Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Grib’s another one of our returning Sundance reviewers. It’s nice... after doing this for as long as we have, it starts to feel familiar each year as all these names show up in the inbox again, names we haven’t seen for about eleven months. There are still a number of guys we haven’t heard from who I’m sure will turn up soon. Grib’s got a double-header for us today, starting with this much-discussed German title:
Hey Harry, Grib here again from Sundance for the fifth year in a row. I caught a great German film called "The Wave" that, if there is any justice, will somehow get US distribution despite its subtitles. Based on Todd Strasser's novel about an actual incident that took place over the course of five days in 1967 in Palo Alto, CA, "The Wave" begins as social studies teacher Mr. Rainer (Jurgen Vogel) is tasked with presenting a one-week course on autocracy to his high school class (the punk T-shirt clad teacher is bummed, because he wanted to teach anarchy instead). Herr Rainer decides to set up a mock dictatorship, and the class installs him as their leader. The wounds of the Third Reich are imprinted upon this generation; the students roll their eyes at its very mention. The class is initially skeptical that a dictatorship could happen in Germany again given the country's stark history. But things get interesting when, on the second day of the project, Herr Rainer separates the cliques and the group begins to function more as a like-thinking unit. By Wednesday, they've named themselves "The Wave," created a catchy logo, and adopted a uniform (white button-down shirts and blue jeans). Wave members go on a rampage that night, plastering subways, kiosks, and storefronts with Wave stickers and spray-painted logos (in a nice marketing touch, Park City is currently covered in Wave stickers, too); the spree culminates in a death-defying climb up a scaffold by the group's most ardent member, Tim, who spray paints a massive Wave logo on a building under construction in the town square. Many of the teachers at the school (including Herr Rainer's pregnant fiancee) want the Wave put to a stop, but Herr Rainer has the support of the school's principal, who still thinks the experience is valuable for the students. Tensions build rapidly between the Wave and non-members, and things start to really spin out of control (Tim even buys a handgun on the internet). Herr Rainer struggles with competing desires for more ego gratification---he is the god of this burgeoning movement, after all---and his growing realization that he has created a monster. "The Wave" is absorbing and chillingly effective. Norman Lear made a TV movie of the week in 1981, also called "The Wave," which told the story from the teacher's perspective; the 2008 version much more effectively focuses on the students, mainly water polo star Marco, his girlfriend Karo, who leaves the Wave and tries to mount a campaign to stop it, and lost boy Tim, who declares at film's end that the Wave has become his whole life. Director Dennis Gansel keeps up the tempo with crisp cuts and a driving, pulsing score, and the tension builds wonderfully as the film barrels toward its jarring conclusion. Torsten Breuer's camerawork is excellent, with a gritty film quality when appropriate. "The Wave" is a chilling reminder that mind control can happen anywhere, anytime: all it takes is a disaffected population and a charasmatic leader. The conclusion is a bit overblown, but this is a minor quibble that detracts minimally from "The Wave"'s enormous narrative power.
Interesting. I’ve heard a wide range of reactions to the film so far, while this next title has been picking up some truly rancid buzz:
Hey Harry, Grib here again this year from Sundance. The first flick I saw this year was Michael Keaton's directorial debut, "The Merry Gentleman," in which he also stars. The film is set in Chicago at Christmastime. Keaton plays Frank Logan, a tailor by day and hitman by night, who has grown so conflicted with his dual life that after each hit he contemplates ending his own life. One night, just after he has taken out a businessman with his telescoping rifle from the top of a building, he stands on the ledge and ponders jumping off. Just as he is about to take flight, Kate, a secretary (Kelly MacDonald) from the building across the street comes outside and looks up at the falling snow. She sees Frank and screams "NO!" Frank falls backward onto the roof. Kate calls the police, but Frank is nowhere to be found. Kate has just escaped from an abusive relationship, and Jerry (Mike Bradecich), the cop who answers her call takes a liking to her. Thus begins a web of events that weaves the lives of Frank, Kate and Jerry together. I can't say any more because I'll spoil the plot. The film plods at times, and it really takes a while to get rolling, but there are some really nice touches here and the film really begins to build some satisfying suspense from the halfway point forward. The penultimate scene, a conversation between Keaton and MacDonald in a Catholic church, is wonderfully written, shot and acted. The characters, who have developed an unlikely but very real and plausible bond, dance around some very delicate subjects, careful not to reveal too much but divulging enough to make themselves understood. This is Keaton's best work in years (erasing the taste of the highly unsatisfying "Game 6"), and this film establishes MacDonald as a talent on the rise. If you have the patience to wade through the film's opening scenes, you will be rewarded with a taut and surprisingly human tale of longing, loss and the need for redemption.
