Movie Reviews
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(*Updated 03/13/10*)
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Terribly Happy
Directed by Henrik Ruben Genz.
In Danish with subtitles. Based on the novel by Erling Jepsen. Robert (Jakob Cedergren), a police officer, transfers to Skarrild, a small town in Denmark, after suffering from a nervous breakdown and committing some sort of misdeed back in Copenhagen. He calls his wife every now and then and leaves messages on her machine, but she repeatedly doesn’t pick up the phone or call him back. When a young boy gets caught shoplifting for the second time, Robert learns that the law enforcement in Skarrild prefers to use violence and aggressive over standard protocol, so he’s told to hit the boy instead of to arrest him. He meets Ingelise (Lene Maria Christensen), a woman who’s abused by her domineering, alcoholic husband, Jorgen (Kim Bodnia). Ingelise seeks comfort from Robert and, soon, they have a secret, sexually-charged love affair. Director/co-writer Henrik Ruben Genz combines gritty action, psychological thrills, suspense, drama and dark humor in a very smooth, compelling and refreshingly intriguing way that’s very Coen-esque and even Lynchian in its different tones. Just when you think the plot will veer in a particular direction, it suddenly shifts gears and surprises you with its twists. To explain the events that occur as a result of the love affair between Robert and Ingelise would spoil the surprises. If the screenplay weren’t so organic, filled with intricate details and well-developed characters, the twists would seem gimmicky and contrived rather than clever and realistic within the context of the narrative itself. In the most crime thrillers nowadays, i.e. Edge of Darkness, the first act follows with a mediocre second act and then onto a convoluted, messy third act. Here, though, the transition from one act to the other seems smooth and consistently well-written without insulting your intelligence or creating nausea through confusion and convoluted subplots. Moreover, Jakob Cedergen gives a solid performance that masters Robert’s toughness as a police officer as well as his fragility as a human being with a moral conscience. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, Terribly Happy manages to be a taut, intriguing and refreshingly well-crafted crime thriller brimming with many clever twists and turns. Number of times I checked my watch: 0 Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Now playing at the Angelika Film Center. 
North Face
Directed by Philipp Stölzl.
In German, French and Italian with subtitles. Based on a true story. In Germany 1936, Henry Arau (Ulrich Tukur) a member of the Third Reich, works as a publisher for a German newspaper, Berliner Zeitung. The Nazi Party wants to find talented mountain climbers who could scale the north face of the Eiger Mountain located in the French Alps to boost its reputation throughout the world right before the Berlin Olympics begin. Henry’s editorial secretary, Luise Fellner (Johanna Wokalek), happens to know of two men willing to climb that treacherous slope under freezing conditions, so, to please the Nazi Party, Henry gives her the task of finding those two men and persuading them to go on that life-threatening journey. Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) and Toni Kurz (Benno Fuermann), Luise’s former boyfriend, agree to the challenge despite the fact that two climbers had froze to death on the Eiger a year ago. Two Austrian climbers, Willy Angerer (Simon Schwarz) and Edi Rainer (Georg Friedrich), also scale the Eiger to race them to the top, but they soon join along with them. What ensues is an adventure that’s often gripping, harrowing and breathtaking to watch. Director/co-writer Philipp Stölzl allows the tension to build gradually, but once it becomes very suspenseful, it stays that way as you’re wondering if and how those climbers will survive the elements. You’ll feel so engrossed into the incredibly realistic action sequences that you’ll think you’re watching documentary footage. It’s also worth mentioning that Stölzl includes a gentle touch of humor along the way which nicely balances the intense, heavier moments throughout. The scenery seems like a character of its own and a deceptive one at that: it appears very serene and beautiful at times, but within a matter of minutes, it can turn into hell on earth. At a running time of just over 2 hours, North Face, manages to be suspenseful, meticulously crafted, harrowing and thrilling. It’s an incredible true story about courage and the power of the human spirit. Number of times I checked my watch: 0 Released by Music Box Films. Now playing at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. 
The White Ribbon
Directed by Michael Haneke.
In German with subtitles. In 1913, a year before World War I commences, a series of mysterious, tragic events plague Eichwald, a small, rural village in Germany. The village doctor (Rainer Bock) became seriously injured after falling down from his horse as it crossed a path that had a wire that caused it to trip. Who placed the wire there? What might be their motivation(s)? Adding to the mystery, no one can find the wire that supposedly was there. While the doctor recuperates in another village, Mrs. Wagner (Susanne Lothar), the midwife and mother of Karli (Eddy Grahl), takes care of his children, Anna (Roxane Duran) and younger brother, Rudolph (Miljan Chatelain). Klara (Maria-Victoria Dragus) and Martin (Leonard Proxauf), the children of the village’s Protestant pastor (Burghart Klaussner), offer to keep Anna and Rudolph company. A farmer’s wife dies after falls through the rotten floorboards of a sawmill belonging to the farmer’s boss, the Baron (Ulrich Tukur), and, soon enough, the blame is placed on the Baron for the “accident”. Someone beats up Baron’s son, Sigi (Fion Mutert), in retaliation for that event. In another subplot, the new local schoolteacher (Christian Friedel) courts Eva (Leonie Benesch), the 17-year-old nanny at the Baron’s estate. Writer/director Michael Haneke has woven a very intricate and elliptical mystery drama that, at times, feels psychologically horrifying because you never really know what kind of tragic event will occur next or who/whom should take the blame for that matter. He builds the tension very gradually and wisely doesn’t spoon-feed revealing information about the mystery to the audience. The tragic events themselves aren’t displayed onscreen, so there’s always more questions than answer. In turn, you’ll be questioning the true motive(s) of each character, even the seemingly innocent ones. Should you trust the narrator (voice of Ernst Jacobi), the older version of schoolteacher speaking to the audience from years later? Attentive audience members should pay close attention to the pastor’s dialogue, especially when he talks to his children about the loss of innocence and purity, enhancing the meaning of the film’s allegoric title. Each of the child actors gives a compelling performance which will make you forget that this actually marks their feature film debut. Haneke also leaves out a musical score and includes a lush, hauntingly beautiful black-and-white cinematography with so much visual richness that every scene could easily be paused, admired and studied as if it were a painting. At a running time of 2 hours and 24 minutes, The White Ribbon manages to be engrossing, suspenseful and quietly haunting with exquisite cinematography and meticulous attention to detail. Number of times I checked my watch: 0 Released by Sony Pictures Classics. Now playing at the Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. 
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