Belle and Sebastian/ Belle et Sébastien (2013); adventure family film review

French poster artwork for the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien.

Alpine Adventures by Linh

Belle and Sebastian/ Belle et Sébastien was originally a children’s novel by French actress, screenwriter and director Cécile Aubry. Her novel was adapted into a black and white live-action French television series in the 1960s, with the UK dubbing the series in English for the BBC. In the 1980s, the Japanese created an anime version for television. Aubry’s son Mehdi El Glaoui starred in the original French television series in the role of Sébastien and makes a cameo appearance in the 2013 film adaptation directed by Nicolas Vanier.
Vanier has an affinity with the panoramic beauty of Nature, its unpredictability and working with children and animals. His previous films The Last Trapper and Loup involved animals in the wild, young lead characters and stunning nature photography set in the mountains. It was a wonderful opportunity for Vanier to direct and adapt the classic novel and beloved television series, which consists of these elements. He even secured the assistance of Aubry’s son Mehdi El Glaoui to be part of the film project, where Medhi plays a lumberjack named André who offers advice to Sébastien. The small scene Medhi shared with the film’s young star Félix Bossuet, who plays Sébastien, appears like a passing of the baton from an early generation Sébastien to a contemporary counterpart.

CLOSE CONNECTION: Belle (Garfield) and Sébastien (Felix Bossuet) become best friends in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

Vanier’s film adaptation is an origin story set in the 1940s during World War II, and tells of how Sébastien met Belle, a white Pyrenean Mountain dog. He combines this story with one where the Nazis arrive in Sébastien’s village to capture French Resistance fighters, who help Jewish refugees to escape through the mountains into Switzerland. This second story enables a romance to blossom for a couple of the film’s characters and provides more opportunities to film the majestic mountains in the Haute Marienne-Vanoise valley of the Rhone-Alps region in France. Vanier aimed to introduce the story of Belle et Sébastien to a new generation of audiences without alienating audiences who watched the television series and read the book. The result is a family film with Disney-esque elements combined with the subtle touch of French nostalgic drama.

WATCHING WOLVES: Sébastien (Félix Bossuet), Belle (Garfield) and César (Tchéky Karyo) attempt to stop wolves killing their sheep in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

Belle et Sébastien opens with the six year old boy named Sébastien (Félix Bossuet) going hunting with his adopted grandfather César (Tchéky Karyo). The pair watch chamois on a nearby mountain and witness one of the females being shot dead. They do not see the shooter but hear the cries of the female chamois’s baby. César rescues the baby kid using ropes to lower Sébastien down the mountain side and carry the baby back up in his backpack. They take the kid home where César bottle feeds it and his sheep accepts it into its flock. Meanwhile, the menfolk from Sébastien’s village return from a hunting trip with one member injured from a cut leg. Apparently, there is a “wild beast” killing and stealing the villagers’ sheep and they suspect it is the wild dog formerly owned by a late villager. The dog was presumably tied up all day and night, beaten savagely by its owner and not fed for many days and weeks. The dog eventually escaped its cruel owner and hid in the mountains, possibly turning feral. Later, Sébastien meets Belle during another outing with César, but Belle runs away. A few more encounters between the pair results in a bond of friendship and trust, with Sébastien being certain Belle is not responsible for killing the villagers’ sheep.
 

FRIENDLY FLIRTING Peter (Andreas Pietschmann) flirts with Angélina (Margaux Chatelier) as he offers her a ride home in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

While the menfolk hunt the “wild beast”, Nazis arrive in the village to seek French Resistance members whom they suspect are secretly aiding Jewish refugees into Switzerland through the mountains. A French-German Lieutenant named Peter (Andreas Pietschmann) who is leading the search, falls in love with the village baker and César’s niece Angélina (Margaux Chatelier). However, she is interested in the village doctor named Guillaume (Dimitri Storoge) who is one of the resistance fighters helping Jewish refugees cross the border into Switzerland. As the winter arrives, the trek through the mountains becomes dangerous and the Nazis discover the secret passage used to help the Jewish refugees escape. Unfortunately, Guillaume injured his leg and Angélina offers to take his place, but unbeknownst to her, the Nazis have planned to intercept the group on Christmas night.

ACCESSING ASSISTANCE:Sébastien (Félix Bossuet) seeks medical assistance from doctor Guillaume (Dimitri Storoge) to save Belle's life in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

Belle et Sébastien is beautifully filmed and the spectacular aerial shots of the mountains, the valley and the river appear to make the French countryside and the mountains a character in the film. The splendid scenery during the winter, summer and spring assists in depicting some of the film’s themes including freedom, friendship and family. The wide, open spaces and vastness of the countryside and the towering mountains are metaphoric of the freedom Belle experiences after her turbulent life with a cruel owner and Sébastien is free to run and roam with Belle; and the freedom Jewish refugees gain in escaping the Nazis via secret passages through the mountains.
 

AGREEABLE ADVICE: Sébastien (Félix Bossuet) seeks advice from lumberjack André (Mehdi El Glaoui) to tame a wild dog like Belle in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

Friendship is a central theme in the film as the relationship between Belle and Sébastien grows stronger and this friendship circle is extended to include César, Guillaume and Angélina, who accept Belle as a family member. Sébastien also befriends the daughter of a Jewish refugee, who is his age, and she explains that America is not behind the mountains, but is overseas.

The theme of family is implicit but always present as Sébastien seeks his mother’s whereabouts. His adoptive family tell him that his mother is in America and will soon visit him but they eventually reveal the truth about his mother.

COMPATIBLE CHEMISTRY: Belle (Garfield) and Sébastien (Felix Bossuet) are friends who trust each other in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

The two lead characters are wonderfully cast and definitely the heart and soul of the film. According to an *interview with Vanier, he interviewed 2,400 boys for the role of Sébastien, and after 200 rounds of auditions, only fifteen boys were taken on location to screen-test with sled dogs on the Vercors Plateau in the French Alps. Young Félix Bossuet immediately stood out among the others for his strong yet fragile appearance and expression of innocence with some inner intensity. Auditions for Belle resulted in the employment of a dog named Garfield, and Vanier was prepared for the task of directing animals and children using steady tripod-mounted cameras placed on steep mountain slopes. Bossuet and Garfield have excellent and convincing chemistry onscreen, with Bossuet as the lonely boy who befriends and gains the trust of an abused dog, and Garfield as the gentle dog who learns to stop fearing humans and finds a friend in Sébastien.

Belle et Sébastien is a heart-warming and charming film adaptation of a beloved French book that will entertain children and adults with its glorious scenes of flora and fauna in their natural environment, wholesome family values and rustic beauty of the French countryside.

PLAYFUL PARTNERS: Belle (Garfield) and Sébastien (Felix Bossuet) frolick in the countryside near the mountains during Spring in the family adventure film Belle et Sébastien. Image: Radar Films, Gaumont.

Director: Nicolas Vanier

Writers: Cécile Aubry (novel), Nicolas Vanier (screenplay and dialogue), Juliette Sales (screenplay and dialogue), Fabien Suarez (screenplay and dialogue)
 
Cast: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo, Margaux Chatelier, Dimitri Storoge, Andreas Pietschmann, Urbain Cancelier, Mehdi El Glaoui, Jan Oliver Schroeder, Tom Sommerlatte
 
Producers: Matthieu Warter, Gilles Legrand, Frédéric Brillion, Clément Miserez

Cinematographer: Eric Guichard

Original Music Composer: Armand Amar
 
Film Editors: Stéphanie Pedelacq, Raphaele Urtin
 
Production: Sebastian Birchler (Production Designer), Daphné Deboaisne (Set Decorator)
 
Costume Designer: Adélaide Gosselin
 
Languages: French, German with English subtitles
 
Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
 
*Reference:
Buet, Christopher (2013). Belle et Sébastien : Nicolas Vanier et Mehdi nous présentent le film ! AlloCiné.fr
http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18629361.html (Accessed 22 March 2014)

12 Years A Slave (2013); historical biographical drama film review

Korean poster artwork for the historical biographical drama film 12 Years A Slave.

Intercepting Injustice by Linh

The film adaptation 12 Years A Slave is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, whose 1853 memoir titled Twelve Years A Slave was used as the original source for the film. Northup was a legally free *negro who was born in New York State but was kidnapped in 1841 to be sold into slavery. The film chronicles the twelve years Northup spent as a slave working in the plantations for different masters and the people he encountered who showed kindness or cruelty towards black slaves.

Director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) is beginning to develop a reputation for films regarding issues or themes of human suffering or afflictions that are riveting and leaves the viewer in silent awe. This film is exceptional despite the few alterations in the story that are made for dramatic effects but do not change the overall sentiments of the original book. 

FAMILY FREEDOM: Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) enjoys life as a legally free negro with his wife Anne (Kelsey Scott), son Alonzo (Cameron
Zeigler) and daughter Margaret (Quvenzhané Wallis) in the historical biographical drama 12 Years A Slave. Image: Icon Films.

The film begins in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1841 where a legally free negro named Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who works as a skilled carpenter and plays the violin, is spending some family time with his wife Anne (Kelsey Scott), son Alonzo (Cameron Zeigler) and daughter Margaret (Quvenzhané Wallis). Later, he meets with his white friend Parker (Rob Steinberg) for business and consequently encounters two white men named Mr. Brown (Scoot McNairy) and Mr. Hamilton (Taran Killam), who offer him a brief and high-paying job as a musician with their travelling circus. Solomon goes to Washington D.C. with Hamilton and Brown where he is drugged, bound and kept in a slave pen, before being transported by ship to New Orleans.  On the ship, there are abducted women and their children, and the negro men tell Solomon that he must be silent, endure the beatings and never reveal he is literate.

Solomon is re-named Platt by the slave traders and sold to a debt-ridden cotton planter named William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) who treats him kindly. Another owner named John Tibeats (Paul Dano) feels Solomon is using his carpentry and communication skills to challenge Tibeats’s superiority as a master. Solomon suffers cruelty and ill-treatment at the hands of Tibeats, even being hung by the neck from a tree for many hours, until Ford returned from a trip to release him. Stricken with guilt that he cannot protect his slave from harm, Ford sells Solomon to the notoriously cruel Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). Solomon meets a young slave girl named Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) who is the hardest worker and fastest cotton picker on Epps’s plantation. He witnesses her suffering while enduring his own. She seeks his help in committing suicide but Solomon refuses. He spends a decade working for Epps as a cotton picker, driver, and overseer who must punish fellow slaves for disobeying Epps. While working on a gazebo for Epps, Solomon meets a Canadian carpenter, who is also an abolitionist, named Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt), whose generosity alters Solomon’s life.

SKILLED SLAVE: Solomon/Platt (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is grateful for the kindness of his master Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) when his other master Tibeats (Paul Dano) attempts wrongfully punish him in the historical biographical drama film 12 Years A Slave. Image: Icon Films.

The performances in this film are excellent, particularly with the subject matter of slavery, where extreme prejudices, cruelty and discrimination are depicted through the strong characterisations and cohesive screenplay.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Half Of A Yellow Sun,Triple Nine) is outstanding in the lead role of Solomon/Platt and he convincingly portrays a man who never gave up on his fight for freedom and to reunite with his family; the versatile Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Frank) who worked with Steve McQueen in Hunger and Shame, provides an admirably stellar performance as the racist and cruel Edwin Epps; Paul Dano (Prisoners, Love and Mercy) is brilliant as the envious bigot John Tibeats, whose insecurities manifests as hatred and rage against his slaves; making her debut in this feature film, Lupita Nyong’o is gentle, vulnerable and sweet as slave girl Patsey, whose inner strength wanes with the sex abuse at the hands of Epps and her attempts to escape result in severe whipping.

Supporting roles are equally impressive including from Sarah Paulson as Mary Epps the jealous wife of Edwin Epps; Paul Giamatti as the conniving slave trader Theophilus Freeman; Alfre Woodard is delightful as Harriet Shaw, the former slave woman who became the wife of a wealthy plantation owner, and an inspiration for Patsey; Benedict Cumberbatch is unforgettable as the benevolent cotton plantation owner William Ford whose kindness towards slaves briefly gives Solomon hope in humanity; Brad Pitt is commendable as carpenter and abolitionist Samuel Bass with a passable Canadian accent for his brief scenes in the film.

SOCIAL STATUS: Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) greatly admires Harriet Shaw (Afre Woodard) who was formerly enslaved but was able to use her personal powers as a woman to become the wife of a wealthy plantation owner in the historical biography drama film 12 Years A Slave. Image: Icon Films. 

The film depicts common practices related to slavery in the pre-Civil War period such as the treatment of negroes as not possessing any human value, but are seen as objects worth monetary value, therefore can be sold, bought or exchanged; the undressing of negroes and line-ups in the nude, then displayed for potential buyers; using negroes for entertainment purposes such as dancing; black women are seen as property of slave owners so they are at high risk of rape and sexual abuse; children of slave women are often removed from their mother’s care and sent away; treatment of slaves varying from kindness to cruelty with whippings, hangings and mutilations.

MANIPULATIVE MASTER: Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) informs his slave Solomon/Platt (Chiwetel Ejiofor) that punishment is inevitable and painful if he is caught escaping in the historical biographical drama film 12 Years A Slave. Image: Icon Films.

12 Years A Slave is mostly about the years of one man in slavery, but is also a shared story for many others who have lived through similar experiences of struggles and indignities associated with slavery. It is a difficult film to watch as it depicts moments in America’s history of injustice, inequality and inhumanity towards a race of people, and this appalling pre-Civil War period may still have emotional resonance for future generations of African Americans. However, it is an important film to watch, in the sense that by witnessing the wrongs of the past, we may learn to right those similar wrongs in the future and attempt to never repeat them.

Director: Steve McQueen

Writers: Solomon Northup (author of memoir Twelve Years A Slave), John Ridley (screenplay)

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Rob Steinberg, Taran Killam, Scoot McNairy, Quvenzhané Wallis, Kelsey Scott, Cameron Zeigler, Afre Woodard, Brad Pitt, Dwight Henry, Ashley Dyke, Deneen Tyler, Bryan Batt, Michael K. Williams, Marcus Lyle Brown, Vivian Fleming-Alvarez, Anwan Glover, Craig Tate, Chris Chalk, Garrett Dillahunt, Adepero Oduye, Eliza J. Bennett, Bill Camp, Ruth Negga, Jay Huguley, Christopher Berry, Devyn A. Tyler

Producers: John Ridley, Bianca Stigter, Tessa Ross, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohland, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas

Original Music Composer: Hans Zimmer

Cinematographer: Sean Bobbitt (Director of Photography)

Film Editor: Joe Walker

Production: Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), David Stein (Art Direction), Alice Baker (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Patricia Norris

Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

*The term negro/negroes is no longer in general use but is used in historical context for this written piece. Negro is a term that may still be used in anthropological or historical studies for academia.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013); biographical drama film review

Poster artwork for the biographical drama film Dallas Buyers Club.

 Death-Delaying Drugs by Linh

The biographical drama film Dallas Buyers Club is inspired by true events and loosely based on the years following Texan electrician Ronald Woodroof being diagnosed with HIV in 1986. Woodroof died in 1992 and the film focusses on the last several years of his life being spent researching, smuggling and selling non-approved and illegal drugs used to treat HIV-positive and AIDS patients. Woodroff set up a buyers’ club in Dallas, where he sold various life-prolonging but unapproved drugs to cash-paying members. Other buyer’s clubs were already in existence at the time, but Woodroff’s Dallas buyers’ club frequently ignored warnings from pharmaceutical companies and the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) on the dangerous side effects of some of the drugs. According to Woodroof, he was battling for survival and ”if it is out there, if I can get my hands on it, if I can buy, bribe, steal or whatever, I will go for it” (Minutaglio 1992).

COWBOY CRUSADER: Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) attempts to sell his non-approved HIV/AIDS drugs on the streets in the drama film Dallas Buyers Club. Image: Pinnacle Films, Focus Features.

The film is a fictionalised dramatisation drawn from Woodroff’s battle against the FDA to acquire non-approved drugs used to treat himself and other HIV and AIDS patients. The film uses an article featuring Woodroff as a basis for the story, but departs from the original story to include the characters of Dr. Eve Saks and Rayon; and Ron’s sleazy and carefree lifestyle of excessive drug taking, frequent unprotected sex and nightly visits to brothels, nightclubs and bars.

Dallas Buyers Club took twenty years to produce, but was filmed over twenty-five days in Louisiana in 2012 with a small budget of five million dollars. There are many scenes and characters created using artistic license while other aspects of the film reflect true events, such as Woodroof creating and operating a buyers’ club in Dallas, travelling worldwide to seek unapproved medicines, the desperate smuggling of those medicines into the USA, and Woodroof’s lawsuit against the FDA.

COMPASSIONATE CONCERNS: Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) has doubts about human trials for a non-approved drug in the drama film Dallas Buyers Club. Image: Pinnacle Films, Focus Features.

The film opens in 1985 with Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) engaging in sexual intercourse with a woman inside a horse stall at the rodeo, while he watches a rider being kicked down by a bucking bull. Later, Ron places bets for punters at the rodeo but he loses all their money and runs off. Luckily, Ron encounters his police friend Tucker (Steve Zahn), who pretends to arrest him then gives him a ride home. After a wild night of cocaine-snorting, drinking, sex, and a violent confrontation, Ron is late for work the next day. At work, a co-worker has an accident and Ron tries to shut off the electricity but is electrocuted. He wakes up in Dallas Mercy Hospital where Dr. Sevard (Denis O’Hare) and Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) inform him he is HIV positive. At the suggestion that he may have had homosexual intercourse, Ron reveals his homophobic nature but is dumbstruck to hear he has thirty days to live. After the initial shock, Ron vows to fight his HIV and live for as long as he could by any means possible.

In a desperate attempt to prolong his life, Ron bribes a hospital orderly (Ian Cassleberry) for the drug AZT, an antiviral which was still being tested in human trials at the time. Unfortunately, Ron’s cocaine-snorting while taking AZT sends him back to hospital. Ron meets Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender who is also HIV positive and is part of the AZT trials. Despite Ron’s homophobia, he develops a friendship with Rayon after she uses her connections to help him sell unapproved HIV/AIDS drugs to the LGBT community on the streets and at the Dallas buyers’ club. The FDA soon hears of Ron’s buyers’ club flouting the law by continuing to sell non-approved drugs such as compound Q, DDC and the protein Peptide T, so raids are carried out to confiscate non-approved drugs on the premises. Ron launches legal action against the FDA and continues operating his buyers’ club.

PHARMACEUTICAL PURVEYORS: Mr Yamata (Scott Takeda) and Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) discuss availability of non-approved AIDS treatment in the drama film Dallas Buyers Club. Image: Pinnacle Films, Focus Features.

Dallas Buyers Club is a small independent film that contains nudity, sex scenes, drug use and strong language, which had a limited release in most countries. The film’s casting originally had Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling in the role of Ron Woodroof and Hilary Swank as Dr. Eve Saks, with Craig Gillespie rumoured to be directing. However, the eventual cast is excellent and the performances were compelling and ripe for awards season.

Matthew McConaughey (Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street) has been a rom-com (romantic comedy) stalwart for many years, and his move into serious dramatic roles in films in recent years proves to be worth the wait. McConaughey shed over twenty kilograms for the role of Ron Woodroof, and his gaunt and slender frame looked very similar to an AIDS patient. He gives a charismatic and crowd-pleasing performance as the homophobic, hustling and foul-mouthed Ron, a crusader for the fight against AIDS and HIV.

Jared Leto (Requiem For A Dream, Fight Club) spends most of his time these days as lead singer and songwriter for his band 30 Seconds To Mars, but he remains an accomplished actor. His portrayal as the transgender Rayon adds to his list of quirky and complex characters that excite, frustrate and are awe-inspiring. Leto also lost weight for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, and is barely recognisable in his role as the fun-loving, gorgeously dressed Rayon.

Jennifer Garner (Draft Day, Imagine) is convincingly practical, smart and compliant as Dr. Eve Saks and she shows compassion towards her patients. Dr. Eve Saks represents doctors and practitioners in the medical establishment who are cautious and concerned about the horrible side effects of drugs being tested for HIV and AIDS research. As Eve reads further literature regarding the non-approved drugs, she begins to understand that some risks are worth taking to save lives.

PECULIAR PARTNERSHIP: Rayon (Jared Leto) agrees to assist Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) in selling non-approved AIDS drugs to save lives in the drama film Dallas Buyers Club. Image: Pinnacle Films, Focus Features.

Dallas Buyers Club is a wild ride alongside a Texan cowboy whose life journey changes direction when HIV and AIDS become his reality. The film provides a small insight into the early period of the AIDS epidemic from the patients’ perspective and from the viewpoint of the pharmaceutical and FDA administrators in approving AIDS/HIV drugs. The film attempts to realistically depict a generalised fear of AIDS during the 1980s in conservative America by linking it to homosexual intercourse, instead of the research and facts of contracting and preventing AIDS. However, the film’s supporting characters are well utilised to depict the ignorance and fear regarding the issues of AIDS in areas such as unprotected sex, sexuality, and medical establishments working with government agencies to potentially exploit AIDS/HIV patients by charging exorbitant prices for treatment.

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Writers: Craig Borten (screenplay), Melisa Wallack (screenplay), Bill Minutaglio (original article)

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O’Hare, Steve Zahn, Michael O’Neill, Deneen Tyler, Donna Duplantier, Kevin Rankin, Griffin Dunne, Ian Casselberry, Don Brady, John Tabler, Jane McNeill, Joji Yoshida, Scott Takeda, Tony Bentley, Dallas Roberts, J.D. Evermore, Sean Boyd, Matthew Thompson, James DuMont, Lawrence Turner, Noelle Wilcox, Lucius Falick, Bradford Cox, Carl Palmer, Craig Borten

Producers: Holly Wiersma, Nathan Ross, Cassian Elwes, Nicolas Chartier, Tony Notargiacomo, Logan Levy, David L. Bushell, Zev Foreman, Joe Newcomb, Rachel Winter, Robbie Brenner, Parry Creedon, Michael Sledd

Cinematographer: Yves Bélanger  (Director of Photography)

Film Editors: Martin Pensa, Jean-Marc Vallée

Production: John Paino (Production Designer), Javiera Varas (Art Director), Robert Covelman (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Kurt and Bart

Running Time: 2 hours

Reference:

Minutaglio, Bill (1992). Buying Time: World Traveller Ron Woodroof Smuggles Drugs - and Hope - For People With AIDS. Dallas Life Magazine, 9 August 1992.

http://buyersclubdallas.com/

Accessed on 10 February 2014

 

Frozen (2013); animated musical film review

British poster artwork for the animated musical film Frozen.

Snow Sisters by Linh

Disney studios’ animated musical film Frozen is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, with music and songs composed by husband-and-wife team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song ‘Let It Go’, sung by Idina Menzel who voices Elsa in the film, has received numerous accolades, and is one of the highlights depicting a crucial turning point for the character Elsa. In this film, there are the usual elements of princesses, princes, magical powers and funny characters for comic relief. There are also differences, compared to the predictable Disney princess films in the past, such as two female lead characters with male characters in supporting roles, more mature themes and messages, and no happily-ever-after wedding. Just like Disney’s hybrid animated-live action musical film Enchanted, Frozen takes on the traditional roles and expectations of women and men by appropriating them for the twenty-first century.

ADVENTUROUS ANNA: Anna (Kristen Bell) is the lively and extroverted of the sisters in Arendelle in the animated musical film Frozen. Image: Walt Disney Pictures.

The film begins on a cold winter evening, when a very young boy, Kristoff, and his pet baby reindeer named Sven, join a group of men gathering blocks of ice from a fjord to sell. Later that night in the kingdom of Arendelle, a five-year old princess named Anna, pronounced Ahna, (Livvy Stubenrauch, Katie Lopez) wakes her eight-year old sister, princess Elsa (Eva Bella), so they can play using Elsa’s magic. Elsa’s magic enables her to create snow and ice at will, using her hands and imagination. She was born with these mysterious powers and each day, her magic grows stronger. When Elsa agrees to play with Anna, they build a snowman, which they name Olaf “who likes warm hugs”, and Elsa turns the ballroom into a winter wonderland. As they play, Anna urges Elsa to work her magic faster. Elsa is unable to keep up with Anna’s quick movements, and she accidentally hits Anna on the head with her magic. As Anna lies unconscious on the floor, a white streak appears in her hair. Elsa is distraught and the King (Maurice LaMarche) and Queen (Jennifer Lee) take Anna to be cured by trolls, who take away all of Anna’s memories about Elsa’s magical abilities. The King and Queen tell Elsa to never use her magic and must repress all her magic to ensure she never hurts anyone again.

Ten years later, the King and Queen die at sea during a violent storm, which capsizes their ship. Their deaths leave Anna (Agatha Lee Monn) lonelier as Elsa (Spencer Lacey Ganus) continues to isolate herself by staying inside her bedroom, never coming out in case her magic hurts someone. Three years pass, and twenty-one year old Elsa (Idina Menzel) is to be crowned at her coronation ceremony as Queen of Arendelle, and Anna (Kristen Bell) is excited that the palace gates will finally be open after many years. At this stage, Elsa’s magic has become very powerful that it takes her plenty of energy and mental fortitude to control it. That same day, Anna meets Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) and they instantly fall in love and decide to get married. Elsa disapproves of Anna marrying someone whom she met only a few hours ago, which upsets Anna. As Anna and Elsa argue, Elsa’s powers erupt and this frightens the guests and palace staff, who begin to think she is a monster and witch. She flees Arendelle and unknowingly turns the summer into winter, with fjords freezing into solid ice, snow falling consistently and a blizzard on the way. Anna goes searching for Elsa, leaving Hans in charge. On her journey, Anna encounters Kristoff the iceman (Jonathan Groff), who sells ice for a living, and his reindeer friend Sven; the snowman from her childhood named Olaf (Josh Gad); and a jolly community of trolls whom Kristoff calls the love experts and his adoptive family.

MARRIAGE MOTIVES: Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) of the Southern Isles seeks a bride and he chooses Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) in the animated musical film Frozen. Image: Walt Disney Pictures.

The voice cast of Frozen is excellent and the songs are delightful and humourous, particularly Olaf’s song ‘In Summer’ and the trolls’ ensemble song ‘Fixer Upper’. Idina Menzel appeared as a live action and an animated character in Enchanted, and she is wonderful in Frozen as Queen Elsa; Kristen Bell is not known for her singing, but her singing voice is gorgeous as the tomboy princess Anna; Josh Gad is hilarious and endearing as Olaf the snowman; Jonathan Groff is affable as Kristoff the iceman, with a sound voice of reason and kind heart; Santino Fontana is wonderfully suave as Prince Hans, whose motives of marrying Anna are questionable.

MAGICAL MANOEUVRES: Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) flees Arendelle and builds an ice castle with her magic as she sings the song 'Let It Go' in the animated musical film Frozen. Image: Walt Disney Pictures.

The events in the film happen quickly, however, this is supported by repetition in the sense that childhood elements are revisited and characters return. For example, the snowman Olaf, which the princesses built when they were younger; and the return of Kristoff, Sven and the trolls. Even though the film’s colour palette for the backgrounds are mostly white, grey or pale blue, there is plenty to marvel at onscreen. For example, the ice crystals forming on the trees and leaves, the sparkling effect of the ice in the daytime and the aurora borealis or northern lights in the night sky.

The characterisations in Disney animated films are becoming more complex and interesting as the writers and animators make the characters believable and memorable. Cynically speaking, this is an obvious marketing ploy to attract younger viewers to the characters so they will urge parents to buy various merchandise related to the film. In relation to the film’s success and appeal, these characters embody genuine human afflictions and tackle issues that contemporary audiences can relate to and empathise with, despite being set in a fictional world. 

SUMMER SNOW: Olaf the snowman (Josh Gad) has never experienced summer or heat before so he imagines what summer is like as he sings 'In Summer' in the animated musical film Frozen. Image: Walt Disney Pictures.

As with many Disney animated films, the messages are for young viewers to contemplate but these days, adult viewers can re-discover the joys of Disney films as the messages and themes also appeal to adults. In Frozen, there are two prominent messages, one for each sister, with themes of family, friendship and trust. These themes are linked to the messages of love and self-sacrifice, in which Elsa must overcome her fear (of being hurt by others and hurting others) by learning to love again; and Anna must learn that an act of true love is not only for oneself, but also for others as an act of self-sacrifice.

Frozen can be viewed as depicting feminist ideals through the two lead female characters, but also showing traditional family values associated with women. This does not make the male characters less important, but gives males a different perspective of masculinity in a supportive manner to assist women. In similar ways to Enchanted and Tangled, this film is another example from Disney that reflects the changing attitudes and expectations for the status of women and men in contemporary societies. 

MONSTER MARSHMALLOW: In a moment of fear when she was under attack, Elsa created a giant snow monster to protect her in the animated musical film Frozen. Image: Walt Disney Pictures.

Viewers who stay seated for the end credits of Frozen, are rewarded with a 15-second short featuring Elsa's giant snow monster whom Olaf named Marshmallow; and a funny disclaimer in the end credits about Kristoff's views and opinions that "all men pick their nose then eat their booger" which does not reflect those of the film-makers.

Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Writers: Hans Christian Andersen (original story The Snow Queen), Jennifer Lee (screenplay and story), Chris Buck (story), Shane Morris (story)

Voice Cast: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciarán Hinds, Chris Williams, Marice LaMarche, Jennifer Lee, Maia Wilson, Livvy Stubenrauch, Katie Lopez, Agatha Lee Monn, Spencer Lacey Ganus), Eva Bella, Edie McClurg, Robert Pine, Stephen J. Anderson, Nicholas Guest, Jean Gilpin

Producers: John Lasseter, Aimee Scribner, Peter Del Vecho

Original Music Composers: Christophe Beck (score), Robert Lopez (song lyrics and music), Kristen Anderson-Lopez (song lyrics and music)

Film Editor: Jeff Draheim

Production: Michael Giaimo (Art Director), David Womersley (Production Designer)

Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes

Get A Horse! (2013); animated short film review

Poster artwork for the animated short film Get A Horse!

Mixed-Media Mickey by Linh

Walt Disney Studios continues with their tradition of preceding animated feature films with an original animated short film. Get A Horse! screens ahead of the animated musical film Frozen, and it is a mixed-media treat for the 21^st century generation of children and for adults who recall seeing the original cartoons in the 1930s to 1950s.

Get A Horse! is a 6-minute film that pays cinematic homage to the original Mickey Mouse films of the period from 1928 to 1935, when 7 or 8 minute black and white short films that were called cartoons at the time, featured Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Peg-leg Pete. Additional characters such as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar were added to the cast of characters in 1929. Later in 1935, the Mickey Mouse cartoons were produced in technicolour and screened regularly in theatres until 1953. Walt Disney Studios produced one-off shorts in colour between 1983 and 2013.

GENTLEMANLY GESTURE: Mickey Mouse invites his girlfriend Minnie Mouse to join him on a haywagon ride in the animated short film Get A Horse! Image: Walt Disney Animated Studios.

In Get A Horse!, Mickey hitches a haywagon ride from his friend Horace Horsecollar and they pick up Minnie Mouse and Clarabelle Cow along the way. Soon after, Peg-leg Pete appears close behind the haywagon driving his old car and toots his car horn that bellows,“ Make way for the future!” Pete begins to ogle Minnie but Mickey uses Clarabelle to block Pete’s view of Minnie. Pete becomes annoyed at Mickey, so he rams his car into the back of the haywagon, tossing Mickey and Horace towards the cinema screen. Pete then tosses Mickey and Horace harder, so the pair break through the screen and land in the coloured real world. Pete seals up the hole in the screen and continues taunting Mickey and Horace while he has Minnie in his grasp.

The rest of the short film is a brilliant blend of slapstick comedy, transitioning from black and white to colour cinema, and using modern day colour film technology to reach into the black and white past of film-making. For example, after they are tossed into the real world, Mickey uses Horace’s smartphone to assist in pulling a funny prank on Pete. Archive audio featuring the original voices of the actors, are also used in the film alongside the voices of the modern day actors. This short film requires viewers to suspend their disbelief in order to believe the impossible and enjoy the pairing of black and white with colour, and old film-making techniques with new cinema technology.

HAYWAGON HUMOUR: Peg-leg Pete is angry at Mickey Mouse for disrupting his sexual gaze of Minnie Mouse in the animated short film Get A Horse! Image: Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The short film features a small cameo from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who looks like Mickey Mouse with rabbit ears, a character Disney co-created. Oswald featured in Disney cartoons from the 1920s to 1930s. Disney lost the rights to Oswald after “refusing to take a twenty percent pay cut from film producer Charles Mintz” (Tallarico 2014). Disney also lost most of his animation staff to Mintz. In 2006, the Walt Disney company secured the intellectual property rights of Oswald, and the rabbit with personality and humour began appearing in Disney’s video games from 2012 onwards.

Get A Horse! is directed by Lauren MacMullan (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons Movie), who is the first woman to solely direct a film from Walt Disney Animation Studios. This is a triumph of sorts as Walt Disney was a misogynist, according to those who worked closely with him. While presenting an award to Emma Thompson at the National Board of Review awards ceremony on 7 January 2014, Meryl Streep called Disney a gender bigot and racist, then “quoted Disney animator Ward Kimball who said: ‘He didn’t trust women or cats’. Streep then read a letter Disney wrote, and quoted his words spoken to a female job applicant: ‘Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men. For this reason, girls are not considered for the training school’ " (Appelo 2014).  Disney may not have had much confidence in women’s creative talents but he trusted their opinions. In 1959, he wrote: “Women are the best judges of anything we turn out. Their taste is very important. They are the theatre-goers, they are the ones who drag the men in. If the women like it, to heck with the men” (Appelo 2014). 

Get A Horse! is a charming and enjoyable short film that introduces some of Disney’s earliest animated characters and some lesser-known ones. The animated violence in this film is humourous for adults but may unsettle younger children.

PLAYFUL PRANK: In the real world, Mickey Mouse and Horace Horsecollar play a phone prank on Peg-leg Pete who has captured Minnie Mouse in the cartoon world in the animated short film Get A Horse! Image: Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Director: Lauren MacMullan

Writers: Lauren MacMullan (story), Nancy Kruse (story), Raymond S. Persi, Paul Briggs (story)

Voice Cast: Walt Disney (archive sound), Russi Taylor, Will Ryan, Marcellite Garner (archive sound), Billy Bletcher (archive sound), Bob Bergen, Terri Douglas, Mona Marshall,  Jess Harnell, Paul Briggs

Producers: John Lasseter, Dorothy McKim, Michele Mazzano

Original Music Composer: Mark Watters

Film Editor: Julie Rogers

Running Time: 6 minutes

References:

Appelo, Tim (2014). Was Meryl Streep Correct in Calling Walt Disney a “Bigot”? The Hollywood Reporter. 9 January 2014.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/was-meryl-streep-correct-calling-669589 

Accessed on 29 January 2014.

Tallarico, Tony J. (2014). Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Mickey’s Predecessor. This Day in Disney History.

http://thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com/OswaldRabbit.html

Accessed on 29 January 2014.

The Book Thief (2013); drama film review

Spanish poster artwork for the drama film The Book Thief.

Liberating Literature by Linh

The Book Thief is a film adaptation of the Markus Zusak book of the same name, and is quite faithful to the original novel. The film closely mirrors the book’s themes, emotive pull and narrative style, particularly with Death as narrator throughout the film. The story may appear grim at the beginning with Death narrating, yet it appears apt as the film is set during World War II in Nazi Germany with death as a recurring theme. However, the slight difference is the book does not immediately name the narrator as Death, thereby giving the reader opportunities to determine the identity of the narrator based on the narrator’s observations. The film’s opening scene is ambiguous at first, giving the impression that an angel or God is narrating due to overhead scenes of sky and clouds being shown. Within several seconds, the viewer understands it is neither of them.

COMPETITIVE COMPANIONS: Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) finds a true friend in Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch) in the drama film The Book Thief. Image: Twentieth Century Fox.

The film begins with Death introducing the story and the focus is on the early life of a young German girl named Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) on a train with her mother (Heike Makatsch) and younger brother (Julian Lehmann). Her brother dies during the train ride and is buried soon after. At her brother’s funeral, the grave digger (Gotthard Lange) drops a book, which Liesel picks up and keeps with her. Liesel’s mother then sends her away for adoption and mysteriously disappears. Liesel’s foster parents are Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush) and his wife Rosa (Emily Watson), who are very poor. Hans discovers Liesel is illiterate and helps her learn to read and write using the basement walls as a giant dictionary for Liesel to write the words she just learnt. The first book Hans teaches Liesel to read is the one she picked up at her brother’s funeral – The Grave Digger’s Handbook.

One of the locals in Liesel’s neighbourhood is a German boy named Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch) who loves playing soccer and running. He immediately likes Liesel and becomes one of her closest and dearest friends in the film. As the Nazis continue arresting Jews, Hans takes in Max (Ben Schnetzer), a young Jewish man whose father saved Hans’s life in World War I. Liesel and Max become friends as she reads to him in the basement amid the growing danger he faces if the Nazis find him. As World War II intensifies and many more people die, Liesel finds courage, enlightenment and hope in the words found in books.

SHARING STORIES: Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) keeps Max (Ben Schnetzer) company in the basement with books and conversation in the drama film The Book Thief. Image: Twentieth Century Fox.

The Book Thief depicts a balance of cruelty and inhumanity in some scenes and kindness and generosity in others. An example is the archival footage of Jesse Owens winning gold medals at the 1936 summer Olympics in Germany, which may have been included to show Hitler’s chagrin, while being an inspiration for Rudy Steiner to become a faster runner and make Owens his role model for athleticism. The film shows the growing power of Hitler’s influence during the 1930s and1940s, such as the choir of young children singing the German anthem with Nazi flags and swastikas prominently displayed; the book burning scene; Nazi soldiers smashing and destroying property belonging to Jews then beating them in public before arresting them for persecution. These scenes are contrasted with kindness by Hans and Rosa in helping to hide Max from the Nazis thus risking their own lives if Max is captured; Ilsa Hermann forgives Liesel for stealing her books and then lets Liesel read them in the library with her; Hans, Rosa, Liesel and Max having a snowball fight then building a snowman in the basement for Christmas.

BOOK BORROWER: Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) sneaks into the private library of Ilsa Hermann in the drama film The Book Thief. Image: Twentieth Century Fox.

The cast, that includes Australian, British, German and Canadian actors, is excellent, the performances are compelling and the filming in Germany brings an authentic feel to the time when the terrible events occurred. The use of some German words such as ja/yes, und/and, nein/no or dummkopf/stupid person among the English spoken words may seem awkward at first, but viewers will gradually become accustomed to it and understand it adds a sense of authenticity to the setting, people and time of the film’s events.

Sophie Nélisse (Monsieur Lazhar, Pawn Sacrifice) is captivating as Liesel, the protagonist in the film who finds books are a source of comfort and inspiration. Nélisse is convincing as her character discovers how friendships with Hans, Rudy, Max and Ilsa Hermann (Barbara Auer) help her to understand the importance of using words to stimulate good or evil. Liesel feels robbed of so many loved ones in her life that she tells herself “When life robs you, sometimes you have to rob it back.” However, Liesel uses words to maintain friendships, share in her joy of storytelling and to distract her from the oppressive horrors of the war. On the other hand, Hitler uses words to control a nation, influence the minds and hearts of citizens and to persecute.

The pairing of Geoffrey Rush (The Best Offer, Gods of Egypt) and Emily Watson (Molly Moon: The Incredible Hypnotist, Belle) as the Hubermanns is sheer delight, with a mix of nasty name-calling and gestures of love between this dynamic couple; the young Nico Liersch is brilliant as Liesel’s friend Rudy who secretly loves her and eventually gains her trust; Roger Allam (The Iron Lady,The Angels’ Share) is wickedly cynical yet comforting and kind-hearted as Death.

AIR RAID ANGUISH: Rudy (Nico Liersch), Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) and Rosa (Emily Watson) hide with others in a bomb shelter during an air raid in the drama film The Book Thief. Image: Twentieth Century Fox.

The film is beautifully scored by John Williams whose musical compositions have an emotive flow particularly during the traumatic events of Liesel’s life in Nazi Germany. The Book Thief is not a Holocaust film but it does deal with many elements of the human condition using the events of World War II as a backdrop and the characters as a means to link the power of words to do good and triumph over acts of evil and terror. The film has moments of poignancy and sadness, yet is uplifting and joyful, with enough to be on par with the book.

Director: Brian Percival

Writers: Markus Zusak (novel), Michael Petroni (screenplay)

Cast: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Nico Liersch, Kirsten Block, Rainer Reiners, Ben Schnetzer, Levin Liam, Barbara Auer, Rainer Bock, Roger Allam, Heike Makatsch, Julian Lehmann, Hildegard Schroedter, Oliver Stowkowski, Carina Wiese, Gotthard Lange

Producers: Redmond Morris, Karen Rosenfelt, Henning Molfenter, Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser, Ken Blancato

Cinematographer: Florian Balhaus

Original Music Composer: John Williams

Film Editor: John Wilson

Production: Simon Elliott (Production Designer), Bill Crutcher (Art Director), Anja Müller (Art Director), Jens Löckmann (Art Director), Mark Rosinski (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Anna B. Sheppard

Languages: English and German with English subtitles

Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes