Rupture

Cureless Rupture

Rupture
Canada/USA 2016
Directed by Steven Shainberg
Signature Entertainment

Warning: Slight spoilers here.

After my recent screening of slow burn Icelandic folk horror tale Lamb (reviewed by me here), I’d been reminded just how great the tough little Swedish actress Noomi Rapace is and I wanted to catch up on a few of her films I’d missed. So my first go to movie was a sci-fi/horror piece called Rupture from 2016 (not to be confused with two other films also called Rupture from 2021 and 2022... seriously, what is going on with movie titles these days people?). 

And, yeah, it’s got a strong start as Noomi plays Renee, a divorcee living in her home with her teenage son. And it soon becomes clear, as we see them interacting in their daily life, that they are being observed via hidden cameras in their house, recording loads of details about their personal lives. Then, when Renee has dropped the son off to her dad’s for the weekend, a device planted on the hub of her car causes a blowout and she’s abducted. Almost the entirety of the rest of the movie is her undergoing sinister and deliberately intimidating experiments while she tries to escape her captors and tries to find out why the other ‘test subjects’ in the facility are also being tormented by the things they fear the most (it’s set up early on in the narrative, during the opening, that Renee is afraid of spiders).  But it becomes increasingly clear that, while her captors are not extra-terrestrial in origin, they are far from human and she needs to figure out what’s going on before she finds herself joining their number.

And that’s as much of the plot as you’re going to get from me. It’s an interesting set up and it’s down completely to the way the material is approached as to the kind of movie it is. I mean, if Marvel tackled the same themes this would possibly be something like an X-Men movie but, instead, the writers and director of Rupture take a path not far from the full-on David Cronenberg body horror kind of movie... and it makes for an interesting take.

It’s also got a strong cast for this one too, with a somewhat unlikely mix of professional actors and actresses augmenting Rapace’s central, powerhouse performance. So people like Lesley Manville, Kerry Bishé, Michael Chiklis and Peter Stormare are some of the various bad guys and gals who work at the special facility. And, lets face it, when you see someone as ‘low key charismatic’ as Peter Stormare as a villain... well, you know you’re in trouble folks.

And yeah, I had quite a good time with this, in spite of the somewhat limited, claustrophobic location of the facility. It’s interesting that, while it’s a clinical place and various ‘medical horrors’ are being carried out on the ‘patients’ strapped down to the their gurneys... the lighting is all warm colours such as reds, pinks, oranges and yellows. So it makes for some nice environments to look at and, to boot, the colour scheme actually has a specific story beat to explain it... although why more is made of the obvious weakness of the ‘non-humans’ who work at the facility and the contradictory absence of this weakness in the last five minutes of the movie (despite an attempt at explaining that) is anybody’s guess.

It’s also full of some nice references, such as one of the walls of one of the many rooms of the facility using the exact same pattern as the carpet of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, which was cool although, it has to be said, also very distracting from the on screen action when this element is brought in. It’s not exactly a subtle reveal. And, while the story is more about mutations from humans into something entirely different (it’s a bit like the origin story of Deadpool from the Marvel movie of the same name, if you think about it) and not about anything from any other planet, there’s a lovely punchline moment when you see that, any surviving subjects who fail to deliver the results the mutations are looking for (in their search for a cure to the condition of humanity), are delivered back into society, convinced they were the victims of an alien abduction. Which was a really nice touch, I thought. 

The finale of Rupture, which has a kind of unnecessary end sequence, is maybe a little weak in terms of effectively putting a full stop to the idea of the movie but, all in all I had an interesting time with this one and it almost has an Invasion Of The Body Snatchers kind of vibe to it, although in a more aggressive and closed up kind of manner, where fear and not sleep is the key to a human’s downfall. And, yeah, like I said, the acting is sensational, it all looks good and Nathan Larson’s chilling score effectively gels with the on screen visuals to push the atmosphere and bring it into the same level as the performances. 

So, if sci-fi horror is your jam, then you might want to give Rupture a shot. And, after all, you can never go completely wrong when you’ve got someone like Noomi Rapace headlining your movie. Although, it has to be said by me, as the son of a man who spent his working life in the heating and engineering trade, those air vents people like to crawl around in for escaping in movies really aren’t like that in real life... they’re too small, well secured and full of machinery. Please stop using these as a way of getting your characters in and out of situations writers... it’s just not, in any way, doable. Other than that... enjoy. 

Hampstead

Shack To The Future

Hampstead
2017 UK Directed by Joel Hopkins  
UK cinema release print.

Hampstead is a film I came to quite by accident. By that I mean that I didn’t hear anything about this production until I caught a trailer for it in the cinema a couple of weeks before it was released. I’ve always liked Diane Keaton since her days pairing up with Woody Allen (I used to adore her singing Seems Like Old Times in Annie Hall) and the movie looked like it was something more interesting than a lot of the turbulent, explosive movies on offer at my local cinema at the moment.

The end credits mention that the film is ‘inspired’ by the real life ‘ Hampstead Hermit’ Harry Hallowes although, to be fair, I suspect there’s an awful lot of embellishment in this one which, you know, is usually the case with ‘true stories’ or biopics. In fact, the character’s name has been changed in this to Donald, as played by Brendan Gleeson, while Diane Keaton’s completely fictitious character is called Emily. So I don’t think it’s a far stretch to say that there’s not a heck of a lot of basis for this in the real life story which inspired it but... this is art so, you know, there doesn’t have to be.

This is probably going to be a fairly short review, however, because there’s not too much to be very critical about. It’s not being too ambitious as to where it’s reaching and it ends up as a kind of charming, romantic British comedy with, maybe, a little more edge than some others, at least in terms of the little truths which cut at the heart of the two main characters, Emily and Donald. I suspect there’s a lot that the actors here brought to the table in this one too because, technically, the script seems to have not much to say in terms of the history of the character’s lives. It’s all pretty much done in shorthand with a few scenes thrown in to establish details... with Donald coming off as the more mysterious of the two, although there are some hints about his past from which you can deduce all the necessary emotional baggage the character is carrying around with him.

For instance, we know Emily is a widow who has lost her husband about a year before this story starts and that she has found out he was having an affair with a younger woman. When she shouts at him and throws her shoe at his grave, complaining about all the debt and red tape paperwork he has left her with, you get a pretty good idea at the turmoil and drifting quality of her character.

But even though these two characters, Emily and Donald, have quick swipes at their personal histories, the two actors involved bring them totally to life and they become real people before your eyes. You get a real sense of their history just from the way these two veteran performers are absolutely nailing the attitudes and body language of the words they have made flesh.

The story itself is about a man called Donald who has been living in a shack in the forest which he built for himself seventeen years prior and who is being threatened with eviction. He lives the life of a reclusive tramp who catches and cooks his own meals, bathes in the river and generally lives a carefree life where he doesn’t want that much contact with people. However, Emily tries her best, almost by stealth, to help him and sets in motion a chain of events which sees Donald in court defending his right to stay put... instead of just getting angry at people about it

Keaton is an absolute powerhouse in this and I always wonder why I don’t see more of her in films these days. She plays a caring and compassionate woman caught up in a web of ‘rich Hampstead dwellers’ who she seems to have nothing in common with before she meets and ultimately falls in love with Donald. She is an absolute master of her craft and I noticed in this that, although the scripting is pretty good it’s, as I implied before, what’s not in the script where she really comes into her own. It’s almost as if you’re watching a silent movie and I’m convinced if this was playing without dialogue in a cinema, you’d still be able to make complete sense of the story even without any inter-titles because Keaton uses her face a lot here... twisting it into quizzical expressions and stealing deductive half glances at the characters she interacts with in such a way that no talking is required (although, obviously, she’s pretty good at that too).

Brendan Gleeson, mind you, is similarly a force to be reckoned with here in his portrayal of the gruff, bear of a man that is Donald. I’m not that familiar with his work (although a quick scan of his career on the IMDB shows that I have actually seen a few other movies with him in them) but I know I want to see more of what this guy can do because he’s brilliant here... matching Keaton’s acting style perfectly and bringing his talent to the table so that, when they’re together, the two elevate each other’s performance as they sparkle against each other (I recently picked up a very cheap Blu Ray of Calvary with Gleeson in it so I may give that one a go fairly soon).

Keaton and Gleeson are also aided by a pretty sound cast too... not least of which is Mike Leigh regular Lesley Manville as, almost, a kind of villainess of the piece, in some ways... but she manages to bring a certain lack of black and white to the character which you maybe wouldn’t expect, given her story function in the picture. And we also have some pretty sound cameos from people like Simon Callow as the judge, James Norton as Emily’s son and a very intense Phil Davis as a key witness in the trial at the end. Actually, at the time of writing this review, the IMDB seems to be totally unaware of Phil Davis’ presence in the movie but, you know, trust me... it’s him.

The film is not particularly flashy or overt in its mise en scène, to be fair... it does however capture some of the nicer looking parts of Hampstead and the surrounding areas very crisply so the film is certainly easy on the eye and, almost a rarity these days, the editing doesn’t get in the way of the flow of the movie. With a mild and pleasantly impressionistic score by Stephen Warbeck, the film weaves its spell and gives you what I would call, a nice agreable night out at the cinema. Something which is not to be sneezed at when giant transforming robots are vying for your attention and want to ruin your eardrums with their over-enthusiastic sound design.

All in all, Hampstead is a nice little movie and something I would wholeheartedly recommend. It does get a bit syrupy, for sure... but there’s plenty of grit and challenging viewpoints thrown into the mix too so... you know... maybe give this one some of your time.

Another Leigh

Another Year 2009 UK

Directed by Mike Leigh

This film recently screened at UK cinemas

There are three things I can always rely on when I go to see a Mike Leigh movie...

1. It’s going to be really, incredibly depressing... but hey, I don’t mind that. And his last film, Happy-Go-Lucky kinda caught me out on that in that the main character was such a positive live-wire... an unusual departure for Leigh I feel. Although it has to be said that there were also moments of great pain and depression and hurting, damaged souls walking around on the lead character’s peripherals... so not too much of a departure then.

2. I will be in the hands of an assured, confident film-maker who has never once let me down and who will ensure that, even if the subject matter of the movie is not to my taste, the movie will never flag or be boring or be anything other than riveting.

3. It will always feature some of the greatest acting performances ever committed to celluloid.

And that last bit’s very important when it comes to Mike Leigh because, in my humble opinion, Mike Leigh is one of the all-time great actor’s directors.

Seriously, if you’ve never seen a Mike Leigh film and you regard yourself as someone who is interested in the art of performance then you should seriously check this guy's films out because the ensemble casts of these movies kick serious acting arse and any performance in any of his films would put most acting Oscar winners to shame.

And Another Year is certainly no exception to this rule, populated by a cast of characters that will make you laugh, cry or cringe in their on-screen personae.

I think a lot of the credibility of his characters stems from the fact that, according to a live post-movie interview I saw after the movie Womb with two of the actors who also happened to star in Another Year (Peter Wight and Lesley Manville), Leigh doesn’t start off with a script and goes into a movie, instead, with an intensive period of rehearsal with the actors to shape and grow the characters and the situations which shape the course of the movie. This is quite evident in his movies and it’s very much like that expression they use for big budget movies which have a lot of scenery and special effects... you know when people say they can see the “money” all up there on the screen? Well in Mike Leigh’s case it’s definitely a case of... you can see the prep time with the actors all up there on the screen!

This was a gripping but hard movie to watch because one of the main protagonists, a needy and downwardly spiralling character played by Lesley Manville, reminded me so much of someone I used to know. And there was another character in there who is even more tragic in some ways than this pitiful wreck of a woman and I thought... wow, that could almost be me in ten years time! So not an easy film for me to watch in those terms.

Don't get me wrong though, Another Year is a great, great movie and it does the usual Mike Leigh thing of not really having a start and end point... and just meandering along at its own pace without coming to any kind of conclusion... other than the conclusions you might yourself make about the lives of the characters on screen. I’d single out some actors or actresses but, as is always the case with Leigh’s movies... everyone in it was absolutely brilliant.

Now, I’ve always found this director's movies a bit hit and miss but not in the obvious way... as I’ve more or less said earlier... they’re pretty much all brilliant. I do however, have an acid test for movies which I like to apply to everything I see and it is this... would I want to watch it again. With Leigh’s films it is in this aspect that I find him hit and miss. Certainly with Naked - in my opinion his greatest film, if not one of the all-time greatest movies ever made - then I can watch it repeatedly and often. The same goes for movies of his like Life Is Sweet, Happy Go Lucky and High Hopes (starring the lovely Ruth Sheen who acts her socks off again in Another Year playing a somewhat similar kind of character, I think). Others of his movies, Vera Drake or perhaps All or Nothing, I could only ever watch once. I don’t need to see those again as I won’t get a buzz out of repeat watchings for those particular films.

Another Year sits in the second category for me... I couldn’t watch it again... too painful. But if it sits in that second category then it certainly sits there proudly. Because, repeat viewings or not, this movie joins this director's other works as being one of the finest films made for the cinema. If you’ve never seen one of Leigh’s movies before, you should definitely check it out. And if you have seen his movies before... c’mon, you already know the score with this film-maker. It’s a must-see. So track it down soonest.