MONSIEUR LAZHAR

MONSIEUR LAZHAR
Written and Directed by Phillipe Falardeau
Starring Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse and Emilien Néron


Alice L’écuyer: My school is beautiful. It may not be the most beautiful but it is mine.

From the moment Quebecois filmmaker, Phillipe Falardeau, opens his latest work, MONSIEUR LAZHAR, on a playground filled with elementary school children scattered about in winter coats and accoutrements, it is clear that the potential for something wondrous is abundant. Falardeau then wastes no time in cutting to the film’s first of many defining moments, when a teacher we’ve never met is introduced to us hanging dead in her classroom, waiting to be found by the little innocent creatures that moments ago were playing in the courtyard, unaware. This bewildering act of desperation and violence is not only impossible to comprehend but it also makes MONSIEUR LAZHAR impossible to forget.

The title character in Canada's submission to the Oscars, played with a delicate balance of gentleness and roughness in a brilliant turn by Mohamed Fellag, enters these childrens’ lives as the replacement for their recently deceased teacher. A fresh coat of paint may not be enough to erase the image of a hanging body from the minds of these impressionable youths, but when a stranger from a strange land comes in and straightens all the desks and gives dictation from Balzac, they cannot help but face forward and pay attention. Only it isn’t as simple as a group of children coping with loss. Monsieur Lazhar is also dealing with his own grief, having fled Algeria after losing his entire family in an act of terrorism. And so he needs this class as much as they need him but they don’t know this and he isn’t willing to admit it. Falardeau is also smart enough to avoid being overly sentimental as well by positioning how difficult it is to be real with children in today’s hypersensitive society. How can you console a child when you cannot even legally hug them?

The healing process, as difficult and as meandering as it can be, is the journey MONSIEUR LAZHAR takes its viewers on. Falardeau shows incredible patience and breadth as a filmmaker, which allows for some shockingly genuine moments of depth from the mostly pre-adolescent cast, especially leads Sophie Nélisse and Emilien Néron. He exhibits a great sense of style, control and awareness. He knows he is asking his audience to hurt alongside his characters, but he also knows that you will come out the other side feeling satisfied and relieved. You need only hold his hand to get there.

Black Sheep interviews Lee Hirsch

FIGHTING BACK
An interview with BULLY director, Lee Hirsch

By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the controversial new documentary, BULLY. This important film does not spend its time forcing statistics in its audience’s face, like how 13 million kids will be bullied this year in North America, or how 3 million kids will skip school to avoid being bullied. No, instead BULLY does something that for some reason has been absent thus far in the bullying conversation; it gives a voice to those who know how it feels first hand and that voice is both eye opening and heartbreaking.

“It is amazing to me that there has been so little done on this issue,” director, Lee Hirsh, tells me when we meet just a few hours before a screening and leading a town hall discussion on the topic itself. “To me, it’s such a connective piece about the human experience. Everybody has a story. Everybody has a connection to it. This film gives a lot of people a voice.”

Hirsch, a Long Island, New York native, began making what was originally entitled THE BULLY PROJECT in 2009, when he started following the lives of five different young people throughout their school years. Given the sensitive nature of the subject, Hirsch believed his own experience with bullying made him an ideal choice to tackle the daunting topic. “Part of it was that I was bullied so it was part of my own narrative. I felt like I could do it, like I had the emotional space and connection to be able to tell this story and be in that world. I just saw it in my head because of that.”

Alex is 12 and is bullied because he does not fit in

After premiering to triumphant reviews at the Tribeca and HotDocs film festivals last year, BULLY was picked up by The Weinstein Company for distribution.  Hirsch never expected a major movie company to pick up the film to begin with so the attention the film is receiving now, thanks to a widely publicized battle with the Motion Picture Association of America over an R-rating, is beyond anything he ever imagined. “The rating argument certainly gave us a lot of energy. We never could have bought that publicity or awareness for such a small film.”

In order for the film to be given a PG-13 rating, a rating it has widely received here in Canada across the provinces, there can be no more than one usage of the word, “fuck”. BULLY has six F-words, hence the R. An R-rating means that the audience the film is intended for cannot see the film without parental permission. It also means the film will not likely screen in schools, where it should be mandatory viewing. Hirsch embraces the controversy though. “It is a blessing in disguise because it rallied people to the film. That’s the stuff of movements and that’s really exciting.”

Kelby is 16 and is bullied because she is a lesbian

Since meeting Hirsch for this interview, The Weinstein Company has cut three F-words from the final cut and the MPAA has made a special exception for the film and lowered the rating to PG-13 just in time for its wide American release.

Now, many more will hear the plight of these kids, whose experiences are varied and not so dissimilar to what most victims go through. Simply opening up this dialogue is impressive considering the shame that looms over bully victims. Hirsch elaborates his view on this, “It seems there is a stigma when it comes to talking about bullying. But there is a moment, a shift, when victims feel like they have agency to talk about it. Then the floodgates open.” The film points its most accusatory finger at school administrators and authorities for this. “With bullying, you’re going against existing beliefs that ‘kids will be kids’ and ‘everybody goes through this.’ That shuts people down.”

Hirsch, happy with BULLY's success

The goal now that people are talking about bullying is to make change. On some levels, BULLY may be preaching to the converted but if the right people see it, and if its shown in schools, then the people who need to see it, will see it, then suddenly change is possible. Hirsch offers this advice for a more peaceful future. “You don’t have to get involved with government to do something about bullying. You can just make little choices. You can act with empathy, step up for somebody, talk to your kids more. Small acts do add up. That’s change.”

With more young people killing themselves because of bullying, this particular change is long overdue.


BULLY
Directed by Lee Hirsch


While the act of bullying may seem to some like a convenient and fashionable talking point for the liberal media, it is in fact a real problem in schools around the globe and Lee Hirsch’s documentary, BULLY, gives the cause the real face it has so desperately needed. Hirsch focuses his attentions on a handful of young people, all different ages and from different walks of life, who have all been bullied and still live the experience regularly. While there isn’t too much bullying caught on tape, the effects on these innocents is heartbreaking. BULLY will have you crying within five minutes of its start and wanting to make the world a better place by the time it’s done.

Black Sheep interviews Drew Goddard

Not Your Typical Cabin
An interview with THE CABIN IN THE WOODS director, Drew Goddard

You might feel like you’ve seen this one before. A mixed bag of tight-bodies and quick witted teenagers make their way to a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere, where naturally no one will ever hear their screams for help when they inevitably get sliced up into little bits. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS may look like this movie, and on some levels, it is, but on other levels, sometimes other worldly levels, it most certainly is not.

“We just love horror movies and this just stemmed from that love,” director and co-writer, Drew Goddard, tells me just a few hours before the Canadian premiere of his first feature. “We both just wanted to write a love letter to this genre.”

The “we” Goddard is referring to is himself and a man he refers to as his “partner in crime”, Joss Whedon. Goddard and Whedon first met on Whedon’s cult classic series, "Buffy and the Vampire Slayer", and went on to work with him on the spin-off series, "Angel", as well. “We just enjoy working together and we always talked after those shows went off the air about finding something else to do.”

Working with Whedon again was like old hat for Goddard. “We like to write fast. A lot of times when you don’t have a parachute, you leap into some very interesting places. So we locked ourselves in a hotel and didn’t leave until we had a script.” When I suggest that a cabin, say, in the woods might have been more apt, Goddard replies, “I feel like we didn’t need to do any method writing.”

Whedon to the left, Goddard to the right

What sets THE CABIN IN THE WOODS apart from the torture porn one would expect from the premise, is the action behind the scenes. These teens, led by Chris Hemsworth (Thor before he became Thor) and Kristen Connolly, are being chased and tormented but by whom and for what purpose? There is a genuine reason this is all happening, something that has been sorely lacking from the horror genre for some time now. “It felt like the studios were just recycling,” Goddard explains of his motivation. “And whenever the recycling starts to happen, that’s when you want to do something new. You can feel when there is no love behind them. When people making the film don’t care, it bleeds into the audience.”

And even when there is love propelling a project like this forward, it can still be tricky to set the tone just right. “First and foremost, we want to make a real movie. This is not a parody,” Goddard explains of the delicate balance between homage, horror and humour. Fortunately, Goddard was working with an expert. “That comes a lot from Joss’s aesthetic. The trick is to get to the truth of the characters.”

The victims, I mean, cast of CABIN

Regardless of who was at his side, Goddard can now also officially call himself a director, not just the guy who wrote a bunch of episodes of some of the most beloved television shows in history - from the aforementioned "Buffy" and "Angel" to his work with another famous geek, J.J. Abrams, including "Alias" and "Lost". And while he loved directing, his next gig finds him returning to writing with the new Steven Spielberg project, ROBOPOCALYPSE. His reaction to discovering he would be working with Spielberg: “Am I dead? Is this a weird fever dream I’m having?”

First things first though, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is finally hitting theatres after a few years on the shelf, thanks to MGM’s bankruptcy issues. And with all the buzz coming out of the film’s premiere at the SXSW festival earlier this year, I’d say it is well worth the wait. Goddard could simply not be happier. “Buzz like this is what you always hope for and yet you can’t force. You’ve gotta just make the best movie you can and hope for the best.”

AMERICAN REUNION

AMERICAN REUNION
Written and Directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan and Seann William Scott

I never went to my high school reunion. It wasn’t because I was so insanely popular in high school that I didn’t need to belittle myself by making an appearance. Nor was I such an incredible outcast that I would be too afraid to show my face. I was simply sick the night it was happening. One could suggest this was psychosomatic but regardless, there was no getting more than ten feet away from my washroom that night. That said, I’m not sure I would have gone even if I was feeling well. I certainly would have seriously considered it though if it meant getting a fat pay check at a point in my career when I desperately needed it. Welcome to AMERICAN REUNION.

It has been 13 years since the first AMERICAN PIE film hit theatres and announced to parents everywhere that their kids were into some weird stuff. Since that point though, things have mellowed to the point of tired, cliched monotony. Jim and Michelle (Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan) have gone from fun with flutes and pies to baby duty and solitary sex in separate bedrooms. And the rest of the gang isn’t doing any better. Everyone has some form of overdone problem to overcome, from issues with success to general lack of direction. There is even another boring marriage; it’s different though because they at least have sex and are still bored. Naturally, everyone needs a break from life and a trip to simpler times. There is no better cure for adult problems like resorting back into childlike behaviour and getting plastered in the process.

The reason I might have maybe made myself sick in my own head before my reunion is because I didn’t feel the need to go back there. I had moved past it and left it behind me, the good and the bad. And if I didn’t care enough to go back and see my own high school friends, I certainly saw no real reason to revisit these sad sacks. AMERICAN REUNION reeks of desperation.Their original audience is 13 years older now, and some of us have matured a little since then. Yet, the film is aimed at a much younger frame of mind because that’s the audience it wants. The trouble is that generation doesn’t even remember AMERICAN PIE in the first place. And so I left this reunion feeling exactly like I assumed I would after leaving my own - like I never should have gone in the first place.

CHINATOWN

CHINATOWN
Written by Robert Towne
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston

Man with knife: You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? You wanna guess? Huh? No? OK. They lose their noses.
(Man with knife cuts Gittes' nose.)
Man with knife: Next time you lose the whole thing. Cut it off and feed it to my goldfish.

The last line in Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN is perhaps one of its greatest ironies. “Forget about it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” These words are said to Jack Nicholson’s private investigator, J.J. Gittes, just moment after his entire world comes crashing down upon him and just moments before the camera pulls up to reveal one of the most infamous closing shots in film history. The irony, of course, is CHINATOWN is completely unforgettable.

The 1974 classic, which takes place in 1937, holds up incredibly well. Polanski places the viewer at the center of the investigation, which results in an addictive need to know where every bewildering turn is going to lead. And with Nicholson’s Gittes in every single scene in the film, we as an audience are given the opportunity to watch the case he is working on unfold in real time and piece together the evidence ourselves as well. And what a case it is! Robert Towne’s Oscar winning original screenplay (the only Oscar the film won out of it’s 11 nominations) is dense, engaging and constantly shocking. While Gittes is trying desperately to stay on top of a murder case that may or may not directly involve the woman who hired him in the first place (Faye Dunaway in her prime), the city of Los Angeles is in the process of figuratively raping its farmers in pursuit of redefining its borders. It is all somehow connected and its your job to figure it all out. It might take two viewings.

The brand new blu-ray release contains some recycled extras that shed more light on the controversial Los Angeles backdrop, as well as provide some pretty candid insight into the production itself, with archived interviews from Polanski, Nicholson and Towne. New to the set is a commentary between Towne and huge fan, David Fincher. CHINATOWN is simply a must for every film fan’s collection.

Black Sheep interviews Gareth Evans

A RAID ON THE WORLD
An interview with THE RAID: REDEMPTION writer/director, Gareth Evans

Don’t you hate it when movies about specific events spend so much time distracting from the task at hand with unnecessary and often insipid subplots to tug at your heart strings? When I see a movie about a bunch of highly trained police officers carrying out a violent and bloody raid on a heavily guarded gang run drug operation, I don’t want anything to take me out of the action. This is why I love THE RAID: REDEMPTION.

“I knew this film was going to focus on one event, the raid on this building,” Welsh born director, Gareth Evans (27), tells me over the phone, just as his third martial arts film is about to make a serious play at the North American market. “It’s set over the course of ten or eleven hours. It just didn’t make sense to have too many plot points or twists. It would be overwhelming.”

THE RAID relies instead on simpler elements everyone can understand - a pregnant wife at home, a crooked cop, brothers on both sides of the law - to tell its story. Rather than come across as tired though, the familiarity allows for the true star of the film, the incredible action sequences, to take center stage, where they rightfully belong. As a result, Evans is bringing Silat, a martial arts practice specific to Indonesia, where this film was made, to an international audience.

Evans on the set of THE RAID

“The thing I love about it, more than anything, is there is a certain juxtaposition with Silat,” Evans begins to explain, his voice noticeably lighter when speaking about something he so clearly loves. “The actual movement before the attack is beautiful to look at. The way they move, there is almost a rhythm and a clarity to it.” It is at this point that Evans loses his train of thought, distracted by his own passion.

Evans was introduced to Silat when he met the star of THE RAID, Iko Uwais, on the set of a documentary about the practice itself. Evans was so impressed with Uwais, that he cast him in his first film, MERANTAU, and the two have worked together since. “Iko’s way of performing Silat is moving. He understands how to perform for the camera. That’s another rare gift to have,” Evans gushes.

Uwais in THE RAID

In January, Evans begins working on the sequel to THE RAID, with Uwais at his side, of course. He then plans to make an English language film in the UK or the United States. He swears he will always come back to Indonesia to make martial arts movies though. “This is the world I want to live in as a filmmaker.”

Here is the Black Sheep review ...

THE RAID: REDEMPTION
Written and Directed by Gareth Evans
Starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim and Doni Alamsyah

Keeping it simple is what Welsh director, Gareth Evans’ Indonesian martial arts film, THE RAID: REDEMPTION has going both for it and against it at times. Rather than bothering with elaborate character development and subplots, Evans focuses his film on the task at hand, a police raid on a drug slum building. There are enough archetype elements to the story (crooked cops, brothers on both sides of the war) to form a familiar structure but the depth stops there. While this can make for a lack of attachment to any person on screen, it does allow the viewer to fully admire the brilliantly executed fight sequences, which at times are completely mesmerizing. Who needs character anyway?

MIRROR, MIRROR

MIRROR, MIRROR
Written by Melissa Wallack and Jason Keller
Directed by Tarsem Singh
Starring Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Armie Hammer

The Queen: Snow must do what snow does best - fall.

The story of “Snow White” is one of the most beloved of all time. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale, in which a beautiful, young princess becomes the focus of envy of an evil Queen, and is cast out of her kingdom, has not only endured for centuries, but has also heavily influenced the princess archetype we have come to adopt, for better or for worse. It is an imaginative story that includes mining dwarfs, magic mirrors and a kiss so powerful it can break any spell. It is exemplary of what is considered classic and  Snow’s story is now ready to reach a new generation in MIRROR, MIRROR, a modern mess, I mean, interpretation, that seems determined to ensure future generations want nothing to do with this timeless tale.

Under the supposedly unique directorial vision of Tarsem Singh (IMMORTALS), MIRROR, MIRROR is a grand and elaborate affair. A castle sits upon a mountain ledge and is filled with thrones made of giant shells, unicorn shaped moldings and people as chess pieces, with majestic ships upon their heads instead of hats. The costume work is incredible (executed by the late Singh regular, Eiko Ishioka) and, like of all Singh’s work, the overall visual picture is certainly striking. Unfortunately, the visual style is not the only thing MIRROR, MIRROR shares in common with Singh’s past work. Singh has become, like Tim Burton, a go to director for outlandish visuals and, while his pictures are mostly dazzling, if not derivative of each other, he rarely spends any time on story and character development. It doesn’t matter how pretty the whole thing is when what’s happening isn’t at all compelling. Also, I don’t consider dwarfs on stilts to be original, just ridiculous

MIRROR, MIRROR spends more time with the woman looking into the mirror, instead of the woman the mirror speaks of. With Julia Roberts playing The Queen, it isn’t at all surprising that the story revolves more around her antics than that of the original title character, played by fresh face, Lily Collins. Roberts certainly does seem to be enjoying herself a great deal, and despite her faux British accent dropping in and out at all times, it can be fairly entertaining to watch her be bad for a change. That said, I’m not sure Roberts playing a demanding Queen is that much of a stretch for her. Still, the cast itself make MIRROR, MIRROR a passable experience, one that will likely appeal more to children than their adult accompaniment. Passable is a far cry from timeless though.

PS. Parents, just do me one favour, please; if you do bring your kids to see this, please make sure they see Walt Disney’s SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS at some point. They should know what the story is actually supposed to be like.


For more on MIRROR, MIRROR, check out my Hour Community piece about the production itself.