WINTER SLEEP

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Original Title: Kış Uykusu

Directed by: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. 

Starring: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag.

Running time: 196 minutes.

Three-hour-chamber epic that does not makes you yawn at all. Only few directors manages to pull this magic, including Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Winter Sleep is about anything and something that is driven by dialogue and superb acting. An aging actor, Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) who refused to be called as actor but thespian, is a wealthy man in his village. He has a cottage to cater the needs of tourist and a land where the tennats does not see him in a friendly manner.

But his world crumbles as a boy hit his car window with a stone. That event triggers a crack in his family's life. His wife feels as if she has no role thus start a social comittee, the sister felt as if her life is incomplete and Aydin himself realizes that his so called intellectual lifestyle, keeps him away from daily minutiae.

This is laos rich in other themes such as moral ambiguity, social class, ethics,religion and hypocrisy. In one scene Aydin seems irritated by the local imam about some trivial matter (it is of importance to the imam but not to Aydin), but soon the scene changes as Aydin recite one of his articles about religious piety.

Such broad themes can be made simple and personal around long, literate, sometimes funny and bitter conversations. It is clear that all his "intellectual" pursuits from Aydin is nothing more than just a facade to hide Aydin to bear with his real self. The characters reminded you of characters in Ingmar Bergman's movie and the dialogue is meditative just like Russian novels.

Is this for everybody? I don't know but if you want to expand your emotional spectrum, you should try Winter Sleep. Just like Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, this one is rewarding. Don't let the duration turns you down, you will be dazzled by the dialogue and acting.

NIGHTCRAWLER

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Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Running time: 117 minutes

What sort of news would you rather choose? A normal one about something more important like energy crisis or education? Or about Kim Kardashian's ass and Miley Cyrus twerking? It seems that in this economy, nobody values real news minus all the "spice" to increase the rating.

Then comes Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) , a drifter, freeloader, former thief who comes to hijack the American success story. Roams the streets of Los Angeles at night, he finds his true call, being a freelance video journalist. But to get there, he stole a bike to buy a camcorder. Lou lives by the fringe and he seize chances as he sees it.

Recording accidents and crime in night, he hopes to climb the ladder of the media industry by selling his footage to a local TV station where their ratings has slumped. They needed Lou to revamp their rating by broadcasting crime scenes or accidents. But what follows is bitter satire on journalism and job market.

Lou always stare, he rarely blinks as if he needed to capture anything with his eyes. His instinct grows as he realizes that he had the power to record things as it is, or to with hold important things for his own benefit. It comes with a price that will makes the audience thinks that Lou is the sithlord of citizen journalism.

It is dark, cynical and murky. It also reminded me of Ace in the hole (1951) with Kirk Douglas, also put the media industry in a not so romantic point of view. Nightcrawler is a dark comedy, makes you laugh and hiss at the same time. Jake shows that he is an actor worth to watch. After End of Watch and Source Code, his flexibility as an actor has already been proven. This time as Lou, he become the voice of darkness, sithlord of citizen journalism in the face of American dream.

GONE GIRL

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Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry
Running time: 149 minutes

There are two sides of every story and in Gone Girl those sides are explored wildly by David Fincher. Gone Girl is not your typical romantic story but your typical mind fuck story which will leaves you gasping with awe. Fincher is one of my favorite director and by this he manages to keep himself in the game. 

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) finds his home  violated;  his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), missing. With the help of the police Nick tries to find his wife. But as things revealed, the suspicion mounts on Nick. Is he the killer playing poker face? Is he the sociopath? The media circus is frenzy with the way Nick behaves. But this is from David Fincher and he gives more than just whodunit saga. Gone Girl shifts from past and future, also Amy and Nick's side. 

There are two major spoilers for those who haven't read the book by Gillian Flyn, it is better to enjoy the film without knowing anything. With score from Trent Reznor, there is a dark atmosphere as the story progresses. This film is more than just police investiogation, it examines marriage, love, gender roles and psychology in a twist manner.

Some scenes are brutal and raunchy, viewers discretion advised. As a slow burner, this 149 minutes drama is not even boring at all. In fact it makes people scared of marriage. The revealing of Amy's fate not in the end of this film will make you gasp and it leads to a swirling, shocking and provoking ending. For all its secrets, Gone Girl is one of the year's best that will keep you by the edge of your seat.

PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS

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Directed by: Florian Habicht
Running time: 93 minutes

I have to say that this one will be very subjective since I am a fan of this band. I grew up listening to them in the 90s. However I shall judge this documentary free from my rose tinted glasses. As a documentary, Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets is amazing. Although only works with Pulp fans.

If you have no idea what Pulp is and never heard of them, I suggest you watch another documentary about the origin of this Sheffield's pride. This one is not about the origin but on how common people (pun intended) in Sheffield see and tell how Pulp changes their lives, for the better.

This documentary extend beyond the "normal" MTV. It has fleeting moments, interviews with common people, some songs being sung by (also) common people and off course, the compulsory snippets from concerts in Sheffield. The way the cinematographer depicts the concert is good, it gives you a romantic view on Pulp and the followers.

Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets is about the process of growing old. It is more than just selfish documentary about self glorifying by having too much interviews woven in one big picture. It is more than just the story of Jarvis Cocker and friends, but the story of common people, just like us. Warm and tender, I think even non-Pulp fans can smile after watching this documentary.

BOYHOOD

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Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater

Running time: 163 min

We have seen people grow in Harry Potter series, but Boyhood is another kind of growing up. Shot in 12 years with the same cast, we got to see how time flies, child grows and the adults, grow older. At the center of this story is Mason, Jr. (Ellar Coltrane).

We follow Mason's life since 2002 to 2013, we seen the tiny tidbits that marks the passage of time such as gaming consoles, US presidential elections, popular culture references, and obviously how Mason Jr grew taller and taller as the film goes by. It is an amazing experience.

Mason is a child of divorce. His mother and his sister move around a lot from town to town. Mason's biological father only visits them for weekend and his mother marries someone else. The first step father was an asshole, the second one is almost an asshole too.

This, together with Mason's experience at school with his peers, shapes him to become a free spirited independent person. It asks deep questions without being too pretentious such as what is a family, do people change over time? Can someone have free will? And how to raise a child. As the film progresses, not only Mason "learns" how to become a human being, so does his parents while his step fathers are just man child not gutsy enough to face reality of life, they escaped by means of alcohol.

Richard Linklater proves once again that by simple dialogue and drama, he can make a captivating story just like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight. The notion of cinema sculpting time and story is perfectly captures here and although the duration is long, it is a rewarding journey into Mason's adolescence and perhaps, reflection of our own.

THE LOOK OF SILENCE

Directed by: Joshua Oppenheimer and anonymous
Running Time: 98 minutes

How do you feel if one day a stranger come up to your house and after pleasantries have been exchanged, that stranger said that your father, someone you deeply respected, is responsible for killing his brother for 50 or so years ago. That awkward uneasy silence will follow. Thus the title The Look of Silence or Senyap in Indonesian, is a perfect title for this documentary. It is a numbing silence, reacting to such revelation and stories of savagery.

This is not "just" a murder, this is a slaughter that happened in Indonesia in 1965 after the so called regime change and communist uprising (according to the government) happened. The Look of Silence is a stunning companion piece for The Act of Killing. In The Act of Killing, also covering the same historical frame, the main star is Anwar Congo, here there are many Anwar Congo, but with a twist. What if the so called people who comitted slaughter met with the family of he victims?

What done is done, said a supposedly perpetrator. A term we Indonesians always heard everywhere and used in many occasion. But nothing is ever done for Adi Rukun, he himself the youngest in his family. His brother, Ramli, is one of the victim killed in 1965. For years his parents must suffer the condemnation and discrimination felt by relatives of the people accused of being a member of communist party. As if there is a thing called inherited sin to anyone blood related to those being accused. 

Adi, himself a 40 something ophthalmologist, roams the streets in North Sumatra, "interviewing" the perpetrators and sometimes their families. He confronted them with harsh realities. Some of the dialogue are full with tense and awkward silence. Not all perpetrators are the same. Some would deny their responsibility and said that they did the right thing, some would vehemently defend their actions, some dare to recreate what they had done and some has no courage to look at Adi's eye directly. None of these perpetrators have face any law at all. They walk free in Indonesia.

In one tense scene, a family of the perpetrators (the perpetrators himself had passed away), shocked upon learning that their father is a member of the militia that hunt and killed many people, including Ramli. As if there is an earthquake happened in the room. Who to blame? This film clearly shows that even the perpetrator's family must bear the pain.

Filmed with different approach than The Act of Killing and also a stand alone from the Oscar nominated documentary, some of the scene in this documentary seem a bit "artificially framed" but the story is not. It is a real story and what happened to Adi's family, happened to hundred of thousands other families, who decided to just be silent. This is another powerful documentary from Joshua Oppenheimer, produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, that shows that there is an open wound that everybody ignores under the saying: what done is done.

INTERSTELLAR

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Directed by: Christopher Nolan 
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, Michael Caine, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Matt Damon. 
Running Time: 169 min

In the age of comic book and young adult novels adapted into screen, something "original" is a breeze of fresh air. Although this so called originality comes in almost three hours. Christopher Nolan is back with another mind bending spectacle. Mind bending in a sense that the story inspired by physics in space and he mixed drama and physics as an interesting tale.

It is colossal but also personal. It also redeem the "disappointing" The Dark Knight Rises from Nolan and reminds me of Inception's originality. Some might want to take reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey but in my personal opinion it has elements from Contact (1995) too. Nolan takes on the idealism from 2001, and put a family drama in this thrilling space saga.

It started in some Midwest USA farm where Cooper (Matthew McConaughey, this year's Oscar winner for Dallas Buyers Club) living with Tom (Timothée Chalamet), Murph (Mackenzie Foy), and Donald (John Lithgow), his father in law. The world is somehow suffering from food crisis and by that, oxygen can be scarce. So the NASA scientist asked Cooper to be the pilot of a mission to find a new planet, helped by a wormhole they found in Saturn. Who put he wormhole? It is a mystery inside a mystery.

Full with physical jargon that can make lazy people cringe, this is a journey worth every minute of it. Sure some other reviewers complained about the amount of lagging drama, but not me. I like the drama and the science behind it. Wormholes and other phenomenon at space depicted as scientifically as possible. 

In terms of building up suspension and grand scenes, Nolan wins. He proves that he can make something grand also complicated. Gasps can be heard and if you are some science purist out there, relax, it is just a movie with imagination and good music score. No need to point out inaccuracies or some holes, since Interstellar has less holes than The Avengers.

I do wish that in the future, Hollywood producers will put much priority for "original" screenplay like this. Dazzle the viewers like what they used to make in the 80s with Indiana Jones or Star Wars. Stop adapting comics and embrace the world of unknown, just like what Cooper did in Interstellar.