Life of Pi

2012 - Dir.: Ang Lee - 2 hours 7 minutes

Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 30th November, 2013

Special effects, animation and model work are taken to the ultimate level in this most realistic of films. The caption “No animals were hurt in the making of this film” is pretty well redundant - barring a couple of shots of animals in the wild, all of the furry creatures have been created through CGI and conventional stop frame animation. The special effects team had been able to practice on the Narnia films but this is on a scale that even they couldn’t have imagined.
Taiwan-born Ang Lee rapidly established himself in the 1990s as one of the world's most versatile film-makers, moving on from the trilogy of movies about Chinese families that made his name to Jane Austen's England (Sense and Sensibility) to a martial arts movie in medieval China (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) followed by a spy thriller in wartime Shanghai (Lust, Caution), and then a western about a gay relationship in present-day Wyoming (Brokeback Mountain). He adopts different styles to fit his new subjects, and while there are certain recurrent themes, among them the disruption of families and young people facing moral and physical challenges, there are no obsessive concerns of the sort once considered a necessity for auteurs. He has a fastidious eye for a great image but he also has a concern for language. There are differing opinions as to the success of his interpretation of Yann Martel’s novel but it’s certainly one of the most intelligent and beautiful pieces of work to emanate from a Hollywood studio in recent years.

The Women on the 6th Floor

2010 - Dir: Philippe le Guay - 1hr 37mins

Shown in FeckenOdeon 2 on 15th November, 2013

This delightful film was never going to win any awards or break any boundaries - but not all films have to do these. Not all films have to shock, astound, amaze or provoke. This one is likely to make us smile. It’s constructed with us in mind. The Friday night, end of the week, drink in hand crowd. Let the wind blow, the fog swirl and the malignant approach of the frantic festive season fade into insignificance as we cocoon ourselves in gentle escapism. Cheers!

If you saw "Potiche" you’ll recognise the lead actor, Fabrice Luchini - here in a more relaxed and droll role. Fabrice is a long time favourite of French audiences having appeared in 72 films since his debut in Erich Rohmers’s "Claire’s Knee" in 1970. His career has had its ups and downs - "Emanuelle 4" in 1984 could hardly be counted as a highlight - but his likeable character and solid professionalism have ensured that he’s always worked. Since this film he’s completed the latest Asterix movie and an Alain Tanneur film intriguingly entitled "Cycling with Molierre" - with a script by tonight’s director Phillippe le Guay. Fabrice is currently filming "Gemma Bovary" for release next year.

Director Philippe le Guay has an equally long track record. He’s been making films for 20 years - many of them with Fabrice Luchini. He says that he based the character in this film on his father - only his father never had the chance to break free. He says of the setting "If you ever go to Paris and look down the streets, you have a look at the buildings that have been built by the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century and you will notice that under the roofs there are these little maid rooms with no running water. No heating. It was part of the approach of society. So the architecture says everything already. I took inspiration from the way things are made. When you leave an upstairs apartment kitchen, you step into another world. It’s almost like that series The Twilight Zone. Of course my film is very realistic, it’s not science fiction, but the metaphor works that way.

The late and much lamented Chicago Sun film critic Roger Ebert wrote of his last reviews about this film: "The Women on the 6th Floor" is a pleasant movie, even-tempered, a romantic fantasy. It works because Fabrice Luchini makes a sympathetic hero, Sandrine Kiberlain makes a bewildered wife, Natalia Verbeke as Maria is warm and friendly, and the maids as a group believe in solidarity forever. There's some mild political and social satire as the lifestyle of the proletarian maids challenges the stodgy owner-managers, and as the Jouberts come to understand a marriage they seemed to accept unthinkingly. There are few reasons you must see this movie, but absolutely none that you should not."