Burma or Bust
One of the most common narratives in cinema, that of the flawed protagonist whose various problems (chiefly represented by a rival) serve as the catalyst to an eventually triumphant redemption, bears striking similarity to the roots of Western philosophy, and specifically dialectics. Before you start imagining the Film Blog as some sort of velvet draped, marble pillared shrine adorned with ivory busts of Georg Hegel and Immanuel Kant (or ‘Dr. Seuss’ and ‘Dr. Evil’ respectively), this comparison should only serve to highlight that history has a habit of being a bit more arbitrary than most films and their neatly constructed happy endings would suggest, and this is indeed reflected by this week’s largely cliché-free releases.
Burma VJ, for instance, chronicles Anders Ostergaard’s gritty sojourn into guerrilla journalism, amidst the chaotic political regime of Myanmar. Screening at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, it follows the DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) and their covert coverage of politically sensitive incidents – particularly the open shooting and murder of protesting Buddhist monks in 2007 - which the autocratic Burmese government would otherwise deny. Whilst a happy ending is one passé Hegelian dialectic that any right-minded soul would root for, these parts of South-East Asia are unlikely to see any such thing in the near future.
Sci-fi serves as a more lubricious foil to a metaphysical narrative; the isolation of outer space, you’d suppose, is an apt context in which to assume an introspective take on the human condition, and how little we actually know of it. In this spirit, Duncan James’ Moon explores this idea with a stylistically minimal approach, and with a tone more ornate in appearance than that of Event Horizon or Sunshine, to name a few. Sam Rockwell portrays Sam, an astronaut who has been working to extract a vital gas from the moon for nearly three years, is on the verge of completing his contract, during which he has worked entirely on his own, with only computer Gerty (Kevin Spacey) for company. The arid, monochromatic void of the lunar surface soon starts to induce hallucinations in Sam’s mind, and his descent into madness reaches its climax when he is confronted by an unnervingly familiar figure on the base – himself.
The atmosphere of agitation and disquiet that dominates James’ debut feature, screening only at the Glasgow Film Theatre, is transported to great effect to the stillness of the tundra in Frozen River, Courtney Hunt’s cold-eyed, cat-and-mouse thriller. Screening at the GFT and the Filmhouse, Hunt’s film depicts a mother-of-three, Ray (Melissa Leo), and her unlikely descent into organised crime as she takes part in people trafficking after falling into desperate financial trouble, brought about by the sudden departure of her husband.
Having received overwhelmingly positive overtures at Cannes Film Festival (and in particular from Quentin Tarantino) for its natural feel and its sheer plausibility, Frozen River’s bleak tone is only matched this week by Harold Pinter’s trademark latency of menace. Director Joseph Losey utilised his partnership with Pinter to its greatest effect in Accident, a feature that continued to highlight Pinter’s terse, vaguely misanthropic studies of secrecy and brinkmanship. The Edinburgh Filmhouse will host the only available screening of Accident, available across three days from 17th July.
Finally, a word on Harry Potter’s latest flick. To ascribe any metaphysical attributes to Hogwarts’ favourite boy wizard would be a credulity stretching exercise – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a known quantity not only because of the eponymous best-selling book that precedes it, but also because the formula should be familiar by now – Burma VJ, Moon, and Accident, in contrast, all deal in fresh subject matter, and yet are united by their focus on themes of concealment. The latest Harry Potter film is no such beast (its appeal lies in its universality, of course), but one can at least expect a satisfying return to a thematic status quo as Potter and chums are faced with the evil spectre of Lord Voldemort once again.