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With the eyes of the planet turned towards the World Cup, it seems only right that we should focus on a couple of South African films this week: but with Disgrace , all is not as it seems. It may be set in South Africa - and be based on J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel - but with Australian money behind the production, and an American star in the lead role, this is a more international effort than you might expect. It's remarkable, then, that writer-director team Anna Maria Monticelli and Steve Jacobs manage to work their way so successfully under South Africa's skin. We've come to expect this kind of chameleon act from John Malkovich , but it's more than just his performance that creates the post-apartheid country on the screen - it's in almost every word and image. Malkovich plays David Lurie, a professor of Romantic poetry in Cape Town who follows his Byronic instincts once too often, and falls foul of college scandal when he sleeps with one of his students. Does he abuse his position of authority? Almost certainly, but it's Malkovich's performance that makes the seduction truly creepy, indulging his cold passions with clinical detachment and a weary resignation. As David's academic career starts to fall apart he retreats to the countryside, to visit his estranged daughter Lucy (Jessica Haines). Lucy runs a small flower farm on land that she shares with a black farmer, and David is immediately wary of the friction between their two cultures. What might have been dismissed as David's racism soon becomes a reality, however, when they're attacked and abused by a group of young men, who lock David in the bathroom while they rape and assault his daughter. Emasculated and in fear for his life, David is forced to finally face up to what he's done, and Disgrace suggests some uncomfortable truths both for the future of its characters and for the future of the country itself. John Malkovich is as spellbinding as you'd expect, turning his monstrous professor into a thoroughly despicable but surprisingly intriguing character study. It's a role filled with complexity and subtle nuance, and Malkovich uses his unique combination of arrogance and distance to impressive effect. Jessica Haines is immediately engaging as Lucy too, and Disgrace builds satisfyingly to a dramatic climax that should have everyone reeling. At times it may be a little too cerebral and self-conscious for some tastes, but it's good to see Coetzee's outstanding novel turned into such a thought-provoking arthouse drama. I can't imagine the South African Tourist Board will be using it to promote World Cup travel, though. 4/5
God Bless Us, Every Pixel. This computerized classic has real people as ghosts in the machine but not on the screen. Actors? Bah humbug! One Word Movie Review: OKAY Disney’s A Christmas Carol could have been a great movie but has been lacquered over with computer-generated pixels which mask all the emotion in favor of eye candy. Like most sugar treats, the initial rush fades quickly leaving you hungry for a real meal. Given the actors involved, cutting them loose with this sure-fire material would have produced an exceptional version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol . A human face speaks volumes compared to these smoothly-rendered simulations generated by the motion-capture technology championed by Director Robert Zemeckis in this and previous films ( Beowulf, The Polar Express ). If you add in the scenery seemingly taken from popular “Christmas Village” ceramic collections and the 3D technology thrusting every snowflake into your face and you have a technological marvel delivering this heart-warming story about the true meaning of Christmas. This is like trying to light a candle with a particle accelerator. Although Zemeckis sticks closely to Dickens’ tale, his movie is battling another cross wind in today’s market. The recession and a chorus of Ebenezers on Wall Street who are choosing money over their fellow man while millions are unemployed make Scrooge the new business role model. We are still waiting for anyone who made millions in bonuses to repent and show some sympathy for the plight of all the poor Cratchits in America today. The movie works best as a ghost story and it is scary in parts, using the same 3D effects you see jumping out at you in horror films. It reaches a peak of sorts as Scrooge is chased through the streets of London by the dark horses of the black-shrouded Ghost of Christmas Future, dragging the hearse from hell behind them. He escapes by shrinking down to the size of a mouse for some reason, becoming tinier than Tiny Tim with a squeaky voice to match. This allows Zemeckis to use the now-classic 3D effect of sliding down tunnels, used by every 3D movie this year from G-Force to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs . The Story The movie establishes the roots of the story with an opening shot of the Dickens book and as the pages open, we move to the face of death, resting peacefully in a coffin with eyes covered by shiny tuppence coins. We pull back to reveal the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. His miserly character is established early as he steals the coins covering the eyes of the dead man, who we learn is his business partner, Marley. Fast forward seven years and Scrooge is older, richer and still working under the sign he shares with Marley’s name. Working beside him in the cold office is his clerk, Cratchit. The city of London is spread out before us as we journey over roof-tops to witness charming street scenes during the festive Christmas season. Scrooge is the only one who’s miserable, and he becomes more so as he returns home to the scare of his life as his door knocker transforms to the ghostly face of Marley. From that point, the ghost story takes over and Scrooge has his three visits from past, present and future which serve to remind him of his lonely childhood, his abandonment of his dead sister’s child and the dissolution of his marriage contract with his wife who leaves him, accusing him of loving money more than her. There are revelations of the Cratchit family, struggling to feed and care for their children, especially the crippled Tim. Worst of all, Scrooge’s nephew makes fun of him in front of his guests! Even with all these reminders, it is the vision of his death, alone and universally despised that turns the tide and makes Scrooge vow to become a caring, generous man and celebrate the Christmas spirit of giving to those less fortunate. Although we get a satisfactory explanation for Scrooge’s miserable character flaws and take joy in his transformation after his ghostly wake-up ordeal, it is a logical progression without the emotional bond one feels with other versions using real actors on screen. It is not because these actors are not trying, but they are not real on screen, due to the CGI technique used to produce the spectacular images. Scrooge is exaggerated, with thin, spidery limbs and a face so full of sharp edges, it could slice a ledger in half. However, the rest of the characters have no edges or character at all and the city of London has none of the grit and grime of Dickens’ time. The Genre The holiday standard is a producer’s nirvana, if one can create an “instant” classic. These treasured tales can be re-issued year after year to celebrate the season and charm a new generation. Scrooge is a Christmas tradition one can take to the bank and no doubt, this is the plan of the filmmakers, although their last Christmas effort, The Polar Express hasn’t transformed into a beloved tradition yet. A crude version of Tom Hanks stars in that feature and, even after a few years, the gap between real actors and CGI remains wide. This version will not be watched by the whole family as the ghost segments are too scary for little kids. Given a choice between Jim Carrey as Scrooge or the Grinch, most families will choose the Grinch to warm their hearths over the holidays. However, the sheer visual 3D extravaganza on display here will draw audiences to this movie for a long time to come. The Overall Quality For me, I bailed out of this movie during the tedious laughter of the Ghost of Christmas Present. This irritating laugh went on and on for no apparent reason and bugged the hell out of me. This may be just me and highlights a personal irritation but it soured me on the rest of the tale, even as the character reverted to skeletal dust at the end of his haunting (not soon enough for my taste). Jim Carrey played all three ghosts and tried to develop each one with a distinct voice but he missed badly with the Christmas Present ghost. Also doing extra duty is Gary Oldman as Cratchit, Tiny Tim and Marley. His voice work is excellent but the pixel rendering of his characters is uninspired. Faring the worst in the rendering department is poor Colin Firth who is quite dashing in real life but looks like a puffy-cheeked half-shaved hamster in this movie. Although Scrooge looks the best of any character, I couldn’t shake the similarity between Scrooge and Quentin Tarantino’s face in some angles. The music is uniformly predictable and oddly lifeless, especially the carols which you’d expect given the title. However, the biggest gripe I have with the visuals is the pristine rendering of London in the 1840’s when the book was published. It is like an extended Christmas card, with perfect snowflakes, textured brick walls and snow-covered streets without a speck of grime or coal dust; nary a spot’o black soot billowing from chimneys or a belching factory on the riverbank. Just glowing hearths and warm candlelight bathe our characters as they trudge through their part in the story. Once in a while, a fog rolls in to add some needed atmosphere but that’s about it. Otherwise, an army of brush-wielding scrubbers must clean up London every night before filming starts all over again in the farm of HP computer servers used to generate this fantasy world. I was really looking forward to this movie, based on the trailers and the cast but a promising start wasn’t sustained and then it just got irritating until finally, I just wanted Scrooge to find his heart and get on with his new life of generosity. Movie/Market Analysis MarketBOB’s sentiment indicators, the GQS (Genre, Quality, Story) rate this movie an emotional BEAR . A Christmas Carol works on an emotional level, not a visual one. Dickens took great care in establishing the arc of Scrooge’s character from miser to generous patron of the downtrodden and you need to feel his journey, not as a spectator on a thrill ride, but as a shoulder to cry on as the old man realizes the folly of his values and the price he paid for wealth. This movie makes you believe he changed out of fear rather than feeling a true compassion for the plight of others. The change happens not from what he sees but what you see reflected back on his face. These expressions are beyond the capacity of the HP server farm.
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