Movie review - "Contract to Kill" (2016) *1/2

I think Keoni Waxman is a director of talent - he keeps things moving fast, knows how to use the frame. I wasn't as wild about his script which confused me in a lot of places.

Many recent Seagal films don't feature lots of Seagal. In this one he's very front and center, with lots of dialogue and fight scenes. It's a case of be careful what you wish for because he struggles with the dialogue (they should've given the exposition to someone else) and is so awkward in the fight scenes.

Seagal is helped out by sultry Jemma Dallender, who has a decent screen presence (and is the one who has to suffer through the love scene) and Russell Wong, who flies drones (the film has a thing for drones - there's a lot of them, and they're not that exciting).

But it's not a good movie. It's confusing, and lacks excitement, and the star is not on form.

Movie review – “The Forgiveness of Blood” (2011) **1/2

The second film from the director of Maria Full of Grace is about blood feuds that take place in modern-day Albania: a world of iphones, TV, computer games, school, police… and these ancient rituals and concepts of honour which mean families are stuck behind closed doors because their father has killed a neighbour.

It’s a fascinating world, and the film has stayed with me afterwards. Rarely has there been a better argument for the rule of law – the bland acceptance by these characters (the majority of them anyway) of their idiotic codes of behaviour is terrifying. You can imagine the arguments of supporters of this system – “they sort it out themselves, it’s a lot more effective this way” (the sort of thing always said by apologists for corrupt cops “keeping a lid” on crime, or IRA supporters who would praise the supposed ability of that organisation to keep the streets drug free.) This shows how easily such power is corrupted.

The behaviour of many of the characters is depressingly familiar: the annoying villager who winds up dead, the father who is seemingly oblivious to the pain he’s caused his kids (“what about how I’m feeling… why don’t you come and visit me”), the cousin of the dead man who insists on upping the stakes of the feud.

But to be honest I did get bored watching it. There were plenty of opportunities for suspense and action not taken – I know the director probably didn’t want to go down this path and this is a matter of personal taste, but I couldn’t help feeling it was a shame he didn’t think “right, a film shot in Albania with an all-Albanian cast is compromise enough I’m going to give the story the Hollywood treatment”. The set up cries out for a more creepiness, tension, maybe even a sex scene (the lead kids are teenagers after all) and some decent humour. Many scenes are repetitive (eg the kid working out) or subplots go nowhere (eg the sister become an entrepreneur). A film I admired and will remember more than enjoyed.

Movie review – “Knife in Water” (1962) **1/2

I remember reading a review of Dead Calm (by Scott Murray, if memory serves) which said it wasn’t nearly as good as Knife in Water, but I’m sorry that’s snobby crap. Not that this doesn’t impress, especially when you consider it’s a first feature. This is skilful low budget filmmaking and Roman Polanksi’s talent is evident in every frame.

The script is very much a script written by a director – not really much of a story, but plenty of memorable scenes and bits. Polanski knows how to frame a shot – it helps having three characters as you can give a bit of depth to your mise-en-scene. Setting it on a boat gives strong production value.

Part of the reason I think this was a hit at the time is it is so analyseable – the symbolism of the knife (castration!), the competition between the two men, the woman starting as a trophy and emerging as a power, old vs young, material vs non (you couldn’t pick this was made in a communist country). Has a feeling of eeriness, even if it does only have 30 minutes of story (if that) and it doesn’t really make sense why they would invite the hitchhiker on the yacht.

Memorable scenes such as pulling the yacht on land through the reeds, the knife-through-fingers trick that appeared in Aliens. Decent acting – Polanski dubbed the hitchhiker guy. The girl is much, much better looking once she takes off her glasses and lets her hair down.