2013 Nominees including The Book Thief, Inside Llewyn Davis and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

This entry covers some more 2013 nominees and one Palme d'Or winner.

4/7/14 The Book Thief, nominated for Best Original Score, 2013

To be honest, I almost forgot I had watched this movie. It's a good thing I have my tracking spreadsheets (a day without spreadsheets is like a a day without sunshine). The Book Thief is based on the book of the same name and it is set in Germany during the Second World War. It stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson  as a German couple, the Hubermann's, who take in a young girl, Liesel, played by Sophie Nelisse. Liesel struggles with kids her age because she cannot read, but she is very tough and can hold her own. Emily Watson's Rosa is very hard and appears very cruel; Rush is Rosa's tender-hearted husband, Hans. Hans works with Liesel and helps her to learn to read and she becomes 'The Book Thief' of the title. Liesel also becomes friends with Rudy, although a little reluctantly, and they take on the neighborhood bully together. Live gets a little more complicated and challenging for the Hubermann's as they take in Max Vandenburg, a Jewish refugee hiding from being deported. The movie is narrated by Death, and I have to say that pretty much turned me off; I don't know, I get it, it's an interesting narrative tool, but I didn't like it. I have watched a lot of World War II movies involving holocaust plot lines, so this was different in that it didn't focus on the concentration camps, but a German town and the citizenry, including the Jews. I really don't know how I feel about the movie; I think I will say it's definitely worth a watch, but I don't think I will be reading the book. John Williams was nominated for an Oscar for his score which was really good, but it was up against Gravity and probably didn't have a chance. I love Geoffrey Rush and I think that Emily Watson is an extremely versatile actress who has taken on so many different roles, some that are not flattering or glamorous. The young actress who played Liesel, Sophie Nelisse, will probably be seen a lot in the future.

4/19/14 Inside Llewyn Davis, nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography, 2013

Inside Llewyn Davis is the latest effort from the Joel and Ethan Coen (Minnesota's own) and it is their homage to the Greenwich folk scene in 1961 (very intentionally set before Bob Dylan [another Minnesotan] came into the picture). Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) used to be part of a duo, but is now trying to make it as a solo act. Llewyn couch surfs before it became part of the 21st century vocabulary, going from apartment to apartment, uptown to downtown, trying not to wear out his welcome. We follow Llewyn as he encounters friends, family and various music characters. There's really not much of a story and usually that can be annoying to me, but I was so much more interested in the music, that it didn't bother me. The Coens also create these vignettes that kept my interest, it's almost like the different scenes would have held up as individual short films, tied together by Llewyn and the music (and the cat, but you'll have to see that for yourself). John Goodman, in one of his many appearances in a Coen Brothers movie, is great as a know-it-all obnoxious jazz musician who gives Llewyn a hard time for being a folkie. For some reason I really enjoy films about this period of folk music (I love Christopher Guest's A Mighty Wind) and T-Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford create a great sound. Folk music doesn't get any play on MTV (although to be fair, music in general doesn't get much play on MTV anymore), but this is a great folk video compilation; the actors perform the songs; one of my favorite moments was when Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands sing "500 Miles". Many Coen Brothers movies have been nominated for Best Cinematography Oscars (usually with the legendary Roger Deakins who was unavailable for this film) and Inside Llewyn Davis was no exception; this time, Bruno Delbonnel was nominated. The movie was wonderfully shot, using shadows of the Gaslight Club and the gray light of the winter sky to great effect, but lost both awards (Sound Mixing) to Gravity. At some point, I would like to have a Coen Brothers movie marathon (maybe over a really long weekend) to do some compare and contrast reviews among their filmography. Maybe 2017?

4/19/14 Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, nominated for Best Original Song, 2013

Nelson Mandela must be recognized as one of the most important civil rights icons of the 20th century, with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., so perhaps it was a fitting ending to his incredible life that the movie based on his life was released a week before his death at 95. It would be unrealistic to think any movie could cover all of the events of his life in any great detail, and since Mandela was on Robben Island for over 25 years, the film used certain focal points for the scenes as well as showing Mandela's family, including the activities and the increasing politicization of his wife, Winnie Mandela. I think in some way, this is why I feel conflicted about this movie, not that I hated it, I didn't, but I wanted more. I think the story could have been given more depth and been allowed to develop more if it was done as a mini-series, something over 8-10 episodes. The history of South Africa, just going back 100 years to 1900-1902 and The Boer War, is complex and full of conflict (perhaps in one of those cosmic coincidences, Gandhi was an attorney in South Africa in the late 1890s through the early 1900s using non-violent civil disobedience to fight for Indian civil rights); and I think having that historical context adds to the understanding of the events in the movie. Idris Elba did an incredible job as Mandela (although sometimes I was creeped out at how much he sounded like Mandela) and Naomie Harris (Miss Moneypenney in Skyfall) as Winnie Mandela showed the evolution of Winnie from a partner of Nelson and prisoner subjected to torture and humiliation to a rival of Nelson's desire for a peaceful transition to equality in South Africa. I liked that the movie did show what Winnie was subjected to by the authorities, because that was not talked about as much int he news (at least not in the US), and her experience (I believe) was critical to the actions she took and that she supported, or at least did not actively discourage (the acts of violence and 'necklacing' putting tires around people and setting them on fire). These scenes highlight the complexity of her relationship with Nelson and how their relationship deteriorated. I remember when Mandela was still on Robben Island and the boycotts against South Africa and apartheid and the changes that began slowly but quickly gained momentum. It occurred to me watching this that there are people who don't know the history or don't remember it, so in that regard, this two-hour film can serve as a primer to the anti-apartheid movement. "No Ordinary Love" written and performed by U2 is played at the end of the movie and was nominated for Best Original Song. The song won the Golden Globe in the same category, but lost to Frozen's "Let It Go". I liked both songs, but in my opinion, "Let It Go" was a major point of the movie and really embodied the character and her strength, the fact that it continues to be popular (the movie and the song) gives the win to "Let It Go". I did really like U2's acoustic performance of "No Ordinary Love" at the Oscars.


4/5/14 Blue is the Warmest Colour, winner of Palme d'Or at Cannes 2013

There was so much buzz around this movie when it was shown at Cannes and the director (Abdellatif Kechiche) and two lead actresses (Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux) were all awarded the Palme d'Or and it was being talked about as as Academy Award film, but it was not nominated. Adele is a high school student dealing with the usual teenage stuff, including boys (or girls); Emma is a little older and studying art in college and has a girlfriend. Adele is the protagonist and we experience the story through her eyes. She has a brief relationship with a young man in her class, but it's not really what she wants, and she encounters Emma on the street and then later at a bar. They eventually connect and become a couple and move in together. The sex scenes were very explicit, so just be warned (it received an NC-17 rating in the US), and there were times it seemed gratuitous, don't misunderstand me, I think some scenes were necessary to depict the level of intimacy that they shared and the intensity of their relationship, I'm just glad I wasn't watching with my mom. There seems to be an inequality between the two young women, Emma seems very mature, certain in the direction she wants her life and career to go and her commitment to Adele; Adele is young and not as sophisticated as Emma and she doesn't have any great expectations of her life, even though Emma has tried to encourage her in her writing, and Adele cares about Emma, but may not be ready for a lifetime together. The movie is three hours long and I struggled through the first third, but I grew to care and be interested in these two women. The fallout of Adele's immaturity and infidelity was extremely difficult to watch and I the pain of Adele and Emma was palpable to me. The movie doesn't end with the break up of the relationship, it goes into Adele's life after Emma, whom she clearly misses. I had to reflect a lot about this movie afterward, was it worth the hype or was it overblown? Did it have to be three hours long? Was it too much? I also needed to get some of the critiques that I read (damn it) out of my head. I did like the movie, it was a little slow starting. It helps to think of the movie in three acts. It was important to set up Adele's character and her insecurity and what she was lacking in her world and how Emma totally broke through and pulled her into a different universe and also how she changed after the breakup. Both actresses were amazing, and considering that Adele Exarchopoulos, at 20 years old, was in almost every single scene, I cannot imagine how intense the experience was. I think one or both of them should have been nominated for an Oscar, but it received many other nominations around the world. It was worth the hype, just be patient.