The List.

‘Carancho’ - Where there’s blame, there’s a claim!

“Where there’s blame – There’s a claim”

That line is now synonymous with the ‘Blame-culture’ & exploitation of ‘Insurance law’, that has seeped across the pond from the US over the last decade.

There are no longer ‘Accidents’ everything is now an ‘Incident’ – there is always ‘Someone to blame’. Even if, at the time you didn’t even consider that somebody else could be culpable, there are lawyers who will go back 3 years & build a case for you. That’s nice of them isn’t it?

Not really!

Anyone, who believes the adverts that tell you you’re going to receive 100% of the settlement, must be a bit daft. It’s big business & it’s the business of squeezing as much as possible out of insurance companies, whilst convincing your client that you’ve got them the best deal.

But, If you think that it’s bad in the UK, believe me - you’ve seen nothing.

This practice & the pursuit of potential cases, is the subject of Pablo Trapero’s Argentinean Crime film ‘Carancho’ (The Vulture).

There are a staggering 120,000 people injured on Argentinean roads each year, resulting in around 8000 deaths. Behind a number of these ‘Incidentes’ there are ‘Lawyers’ who are willing to go to any means necessary to not only make a case, but steal the vast majority of the pay-out before the victim sees a single Peso.

‘Carancho’ dips into this murky world, where Insurance companies are being ‘shaken down’ by Lawyers, helped by corrupt medical professionals & even the Police.
The film is centred on seasoned Ambulance chaser ‘Sosa’ (Ricardo Darín). Having lost his license to practice law, Sosa is trapped in a job working for ‘The Foundation’ - stealing from people at their most vulnerable.

Although he seems like the ideal man for this job, not only because of his skills in manipulation (of the Law, the victims & their families) but also because he’s managed to maintain an air of compassion & charm, you can still sense the underlying good in him.
This charm doesn’t go unnoticed when he meets ‘Luján’ (Martina Gusman), a young doctor working night-shifts on an Ambulance (which specialises in picking up victims of road traffic accidents), to supplement her income.

Luján has her own problems & her meeting with Sosa has a profound effect on both their outlooks. He’s known for a while that he desperately needs to get out of this dark business, this desire to leave is given extra resonance, when an attempt to help out a friend goes horribly wrong.

Unfortunately for Sosa, with any story involving the ‘Mob’ or a corrupt organisation, when you’re making a lot of money for anyone in a higher power they’re not just going to let you walk away.

‘Carancho’ is dark, atmospheric & distinctly claustrophobic (90% of the scenes are shot at night under streetlights or in dank hospital corridors – setting the tone & mood perfectly to the subject matter).
The performances from Darín (who I only came across for the first time recently in the brilliant ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’) & Gusman are superb, Darín is a real star.

This film isn’t for everyone. Even in English it would never be a mainstream hit, but after initially finding it a little humourless & hard going I’ve found that it’s lingered long in the memory.

So, next time you see an Ad’ on TV with some former ‘Soap-Star’ or you’re stopped by someone with a clip-board on the high street – consider who you’re getting into bed with!

VULTURES.

Charity. The Mancunian way.

War Horse (2012) Cinema

The reinvention of Martin Scorsese.

“As far back as can I remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster”.

Martin Scorsese is widely regarded as one the greatest film directors ever to call “ACTION!” on a film set, in an illustrious career that has spanned six decades he’s regularly lavished audiences with rich characters, some of which will live with us forever.
It’s what he does best, taking a character & opening it up to show you all the cogs & springs that makes it ‘tick’.

The 69-year-old New Yorker is simply one of the greatest storytellers of our time, & although it’s fair to say that the stories he tells are usually tales of crime & machismo - laced with violence. He tells them in such a way that he draws us in, makes us empathise with the protagonists, & leaves us either shocked, enthralled or both.

Scorsese’s best work always involves a well put together ensemble cast, but the story usually revolves around one central character.
They’re usually either the kind of person who most right-minded individuals would do anything to avoid…

Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) - ‘Taxi Driver’.
Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) - ‘Goodfellas’.
Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) – ‘The Departed’.
Max Cady (Robert DeNiro) - ‘Cape Fear’.
Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) - ‘Gangs of New York’.

…or characters that are so complex…

Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) - ‘The Departed’
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) – ‘Goodfellas’.
Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro) - ‘Raging Bull’.
Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) –‘Bringing out the Dead’
Ginger (Sharon Stone) - ‘Casino’.

…that you don’t know whether you should be rooting for them or not?

Maximising these performances (from some of the world’s greatest actors) is just one of the things that separates Scorsese’s work from his peers. He squeezes the best out of his leads; something that has been recognised at awards ceremonies around the world on many occasions.

In my opinion the best example of his influence on an actor, is Leonardo DiCaprio; I was never a fan, in fact I used to describe him with one damning word….

‘Wet!’.

Under Scorsese’s watchful eye, DiCaprio has grown into one of Hollywood’s finest actors. Gone are the quivering bottom-lip and tear-glazed eyes, they’ve been replaced with real grit & believable menace. I’d even go as far as to say that DiCaprio’s performance in ‘The Departed’ is reminiscent of the early performances from perennial collaborator DeNiro (I know! That’s a bold statement).

This is his gift, getting the best out of people & changing the way you look at them forever. When coupled with a great ear for a story & a great eye for a shot, you have a potent mix that makes him a truly brilliant filmmaker.

So when his wife uttered the immortal words:

“Marty, Why don’t you make a film our daughter can see for once?”

It was Scorsese’s turn to change the world’s perception of him, if he was going to produce something that 12-year-old Francesca could take her classmates to watch, he was going to have to reinvent himself as a maker of ‘Family Films’.

To his fans all around the world this news came as a bit of a shock, I (like many) was waiting on the announcement of a long rumoured ‘Sinatra’ biopic, when I heard that instead he would direct ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ in 3D no less!

I worried for his sanity.

How can the man behind ‘Goodfellas’, the man who had directed ‘Shutter Island’ a few months earlier make a 3D kids film with a principal cast of 12-year-olds?

Thankfully the answer is, “With consummate ease, charm & warmth”.

‘Hugo’ is a beautifully made love-letter to early cinema, the story itself is joyous & uplifting, it looks amazing (at last! a director who ‘gets’ 3D) a return of 5 Academy Awards in sound & visual effects categories should illustrate that.
The cast are also superb, from the central character of ‘Hugo’ (Asa Butterfield) to the other leads, ‘Isabelle’ (Chloë Grace Moretz) ‘Georges Méliès’ (Ben Kingsley) & ‘The Station Inspector’ (played wonderfully by Sacha Baron Cohen) right through to lesser roles, you can see that care & attention has been taken, to ensure that they got the best cast that they possibly could.

I think that the greatest compliment that I pay the director, is that I could draw no parallels between ‘Hugo’ & any of his other films. This is new ground (which can’t be easy for a guy who turns 70 this year & in cinema terms, seems to have been around forever) & he broke it with a deft touch.

For the experts view, here’s a review by Philip French-
http://m.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/dec/04/hugo-review-martin-scorsese-kingsley?cat=film&type=article

There’s also a website with more information on the source material-
http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm

Parlez vous Francais?

On a recent visit to Paris I sat in a restaurant struggling to decipher the menu, when the waitress said (in perfect English):

“Do you require some assistance?”

“Actually” I said, “I’d like a Time-Machine!..”

-she looked puzzled-

“…so I can travel back to 1989 & concentrate in my French lessons” she smiled politely & told me that I’d “enjoy the Steak with Lyonnaise potatoes” – to be a fair it was a good guess.

We Brits are so arrogant that we expect this treatment everywhere we go.
Despite the fact that we’re 7000 miles from home- trying to barter for some ‘Tiger-Balm’ in Bangkok it’s us that looks upon anyone who dares not to speak our noble language as the ignorant party.

The majority of us don’t feel that we need to learn a second language, and if we’re honest some of us struggle with our first. With things like spell-check on computers & iPhones there’s seemingly little or no need to continue to learn once we’re pushed ‘kicking & screaming’ through the doors of the education-system.

How many of us try & expand our vocabulary or learn something new?

My own personal opinion of the English language is that it’s starting to regress so badly, that the kids of today are actually formulating their own secret language.
This mixture of slang, Americanisms & ‘Text speak’ (SARCASM KLAXON) will soon be taught in schools all around the world, just so that they’re understood when/if the disenfranchised youth ever travel beyond our shores.

Where was I?

Ah! ‘Learning something new’ or at least opening our minds to something different.
I started to wonder how many people would switch off (or not even bother watching) a film because ‘IT WASN’T IN ENGLISH’?
I can understand that people are sometimes ‘put off’ by subtitles, when such an effort is made to make something look beautiful – you want to look right at it, not try & follow what’s going on whilst you’re forced to look at the bottom of the screen.

It can be a bit like trying to have a serious conversation with a woman who has really big breasts, but if you simply dismiss something because it hasn’t been rammed down your throats by Hollywood execs, you’re seriously missing out.

I realise that sometimes it’s nice to take out your brain & gorge yourself on popcorn whilst you enjoy something a bit daft. But if you’re the kind of person who loves film, & you’re bored to tears of the weekly onslaught of corporate nonsense, that spews out of your overpriced multiplex – Try something different.

There are 100’s of great films readily available under £5 on-line.

Here are some that I watched & enjoyed recently:

Cidade de Deus (City of God – 2002)

A Powerful Brazilian crime drama, chronicling 3 generations of street-kids turned criminals, in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The story is narrated by ‘Rocket’ the one boy who decides to swim against the tide of crime.

This is the South American ‘Goodfellas’.

バトルロワイアル (Battle Royale –2000)

Bizarre Japanese Action/SCI-FI blood bath, featuring ‘Kill Bill’ star Chiaki Kuriyama. She, along with 41 of her classmates are taken to a deserted island & forced to battle it out until only 1 remains.

Män som hatar kvinnor (Men who hate women -2009)

Better known as ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ the first of the original Swedish adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ trilogy is dark & brutal. It can be tough to watch in places, but it’s a great mystery/thriller with one of the best female characters that you’re likely to see.

OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d’espions. (OSS 117: Cairo- Nest of Spies – 2006)

Brilliant comedy from the Director & stars of ‘The Artist’ - OSS 117 is a bumbling spy, somewhere between Bond & Clouseau. Genuinely funny with some laugh out moments.

La Haine (Hate - 1995)

Vincent Cassel (now firmly established in Hollywood) stars in this compelling & gritty tail of disaffected youth in a Paris suburb.

El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in their eyes - 2009)

Oscar winning Argentinian thriller, starring Ricardo Darín as a retired legal councillor who’s haunted by one of his old cases.

Un Prophète (A Prophet - 2009)

French Prison/Crime drama starring Tahar Rahim & Niels Arestrup (War Horse).
Possibly the pick of the bunch, ‘A Prophet’ would be up there with ‘The Godfather’ if it wasn’t in ‘foreign tongue’.

A prime example of what you can find, if you look beyond what’s on offer at your local cinema.