Big Eyes

"Espresso, what's that, like reefer?"

Tim Burton's signature gothic, often fantastical style has never particularly appealed to me. I haven't been sold by his reimagining of classic films, which in itself goes against my opinion on adaptations. However it's difficult not to appreciate some of his classics, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish etc. His latest film Big Eyes, a biopic about artist Margaret Keane, does away with many of the Burtonesque themes, with a cheerful opening act that thinly veils a story of duplicity and suppression.

In the mid-1950s, Margaret Ulbrich (Amy Adams) runs away from her husband, taking her daughter Jane (Delaney Raye) and her paintings with her to San Francisco. Her work is unlike any other, often portraying young children with over sized eyes. Whilst selling her paintings for loose change at an outdoor market, she meets Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), a fellow artist, who takes great interest in her work. The two hit it off, getting married shortly after. Walter helps Margaret get her art recognised, although he starts to take credit for it, believing that nobody would be interested in paintings from female artists. Soon the Keane 'big eyes' paintings grow into an empire, but the real artist is being hidden from the world. 

Whilst Big Eyes has a completely different style to most of Burton's other films, he doesn't hold back from injecting stylistic choices all over the place. For instance, there are sections of the film that are shown on a TV, and these appear to have been shot with a fish-eye lens, not only to mimic the curved front of CRT televisions but also to draw the centre of the screen closer to the audience in quite a confronting way. There are other sections that seem very heavy-handed, almost hitting the wrong points in the overall narrative arc and becoming overly emotional. But all those points aside, Big Eyes presents a captivating story that's augmented with skillful portrayals.

Amy Adams is a tremendous actor who's played some great roles in recent years, and yet again here she breathes life into her character. Over the course of the film she's liberated, then suppressed, hesitant, angry, then empowered. It's a great representation of her range as an actor, and of the troubles that Margaret had to deal with. Danny Huston narrates and plays a journalist but doesn't really do much for the story, and Jon Polito looks the same now as he did in Miami Vice back in the 80s. Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman and Terence Stamp add to what is already a very strong cast.

The many faces of Walter are perfectly articulated by Waltz, and his performance defines Big Eyes for me. One minute he's charming his way up the social ladder, the next he's explaining to Margaret just why her work is actually his. It may be over-the-top but it's a lively performance, which is what I always love about Waltz. Walter is more than just a liar though, his personality is fragmented. To some degree it's as if he actually believes that he painted the big eyes. Waltz grins his way through the film yet the inner complexities and deceptions that define his character radiate so obviously to the viewer that it's agonising to see how effective his dishonesty is. The dramatic irony leaves the viewer on an excruciating precipice, waiting for Margaret to reveal the secret to the world, to break free. It's here that Big Eyes is the most effective.

This isn't Burton's greatest accomplishment, and probably won't appeal as much to his hardcore fan base, but I'm glad that Margaret Keane's story got put onto the big screen, even if it is a little Hollywood. Adams and Waltz are fantastic.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

If there has ever been a more esoteric film, The Grand Budapest Hotel is it. All the fans of Wes Anderson's films will immediately pick up on the formalities of his work and enjoy the film immensely. But don't think that if you haven't seen any of his films previously that you won't see it because you'll be missing out on some larger picture. Rather, it is a great introduction to his world. I think that may have to do with Ralph Fiennes, who comes fresh to the films of Wes Anderson.

Indeed, the majority of the film falls on the more than competent shoulders of Fiennes. This film, however, is a huge departure for him as he usually plays insidious characters (Harry Waters in In Bruges, Amon Göth in Schindler's List, Voldermort in the Harry Potter films). He plays Gustave H., the bubbly concierge at the titular hotel, where he wines and dines many of the older female clientele. One such guest, Madame D. (the wonderfully enigmatic Tilda Swinton), ends up being murdered and Gustave is the prime suspect. This is after he becomes the most profitable recipient of Madame D.'s will.

To help Gustave clear his name is the young lobby boy Zero Moustafa. He is played by the talented young Tony Revolori, for whom this is his first major role. He and Fiennes make an excellent comedic duo playing off each other perfectly and you can feel as though the role of mentor that Fiennes takes up must have spilled over to reality.

A lot of the humour in the film comes in very punctuated moments that are both absolutely absurd and shocking. But there are a lot of jokes that are very quick and funny, mainly quips spouted by Gustave, a lot of them to do with poetry or advice for young Zero.

Of course there are a huge number of other people in this film. F. Murray Abraham plays an older Zero and gives the film some of it's more emotionally insightful moments. Adrien Brody's foul-mouthed Dmitri also gives the film some more comedy as his swearing at times seems completely unwarranted (I should know).

From a technical standpoint this is a fun film to watch. Anderson's trademarks of models and fixed camera angles are all here, but the the most enjoyable thing about the film is that it's aspect ratio changes throughout the film. This has largely to do with the fact that the film is a series of flashbacks piled on top of each other.

Verdict: A hugely enjoyable film for everyone to watch. It is fantastically funny and at the same time has some beautifully reflective scenes. Watch out for the Schindler's List reference toward the end.

Director Appreciation: Wes Anderson

I've decided to introduce a new series into my blog and these are director appreciations. In this posts I am going to look a director, their style and a selected filmography of their works. To get everyone excited about the release of The Grand Budapest Hotel this week (if you live in Australia, that is) I am going to look at the works of quirky director Wes Anderson.

Wes Anderson has been making films for the last two decades. Over this period of time he has developed a very unique style and is one that everyone is able to identify when watching. Anderson is known for his deadpan comedy, where even the most absurd things (like the marriage of two children) is taken as completely normal, his vivid colours, the sense of family, his completely locked off camera shots (although every film has one sequence where the camera moves freely) and his cast off frequent collaborators which include Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton and Willem Dafoe.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): This is probably the one film of Wes Anderson's that most people have seen. It follows an estranged family who reunite after their father Royal (played by a wickedly funny Gene Hackman) reveals that he is suffering from a terminal illness. The performances in this film are all wildly funny and there is a great subplot where Bill Murray is studying a boy who has a rare disorder that combines amnesia, dyslexia and colour-blindness.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004): This is my favourite of Anderson's films because it was the first I ever saw and instantly fell in love with his style. The film itself is a parody of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, with Murray playing the titular character. Zissou sets out to make one last film where he will find the shark that killed his best friend. It is an amazingly vibrant film and has my favourite performance from Willem Dafoe ever.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007): This really is the evolution from The Life Aquatic. It follows three brothers who travel to India to bond after not having seen each other in a year. I feel like a part of Anderson was trying to break out of his style with this film. This is Adrian Brody's first film with Anderson and he really fits into his world and style.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012): A really beautiful film about two young children who fall in love and run away from home. After this the entire community gather together to try and find them. This film has a lot of stunning performances, especially from the two young leads, but for me Edward Norton steals the show as an inept scout master.

Saving Mr. Banks

A Disney movie about Walt Disney? Now that's meta. I was thinking it would be funny if they put the Paramount logo at the front of the film. I probably would have found it funnier than half the jokes in the film. Not that it wasn't entertaining, it just tried too hard.

The film is split into two stories. One is P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) travelling to Los Angeles to decide whether to sell the rights of her character Mary Poppins to beloved businessman and entertainer Walt Disney (Tom Hanks). Disney has told her that she can work with the writer Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and composers Dick and Bob Sherman (Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak) to decide if she will sell the rights.

The other story revolves around a young Travers (Annie Rose Buckley) as she grows up in Australia. She is very close with her alcoholic father (Colin Farrell) who only wants the best for his young family.

Overall, this film tries too hard to be both emotionally engaging (as with Travers recollections of her father) and hilariously funny (as with Hanks' portrayal of Disney). Also the flashback scenes to Australia, while an interesting insight into this woman's early life, feel disjointed and at times made me confused.

Tom Hanks, who is an actor whom I usually enjoy, didn't really work in the role of Walt Disney. He was very charming, to say the least, as I am sure the real man was, but I felt as though he was playing Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. The film also brushes over some of the more nefarious aspects of the real Walt Disney, but being a family film, I can understand why.

Thompson did an okay job at portraying Travers, but she played the character a tad too cold for my liking. The film ends with a recording of the real Pamela Travers, who although bitchy, you can definitely sense a playfulness in her attitude, whereas Thompson just played the character as mean throughout.

Colin Farrell was excellent as Travers' father. He did a wonderful Australian accent, although sometimes he would slip into his own Irish one. I can overlook this however, as he was playing an Irish Australian. 

My favourite performances came from relatively minor characters. Bradley Whitford (Billy Madison) played the exasperated screenwriter excellently and both Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore) and B.J. Novak (Inglourious Basterds) did a fantastic job. I only felt as though Novak's character could have been fleshed out a little more. Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Barney's Version) was also good as Travers' chauffeur.

Verdict: An enjoyable film that I felt tried a little too hard to both funny and emotional.