shakercoola

An American crime drama; A story about the life of a Black American marine, his teenage years in late 1960s Bronx, New York, his experiences during the Vietnam War, and his struggles afterwards to support his family amidst a personal crisis. Based on the life of Haywood T. Kirkland (aka Ari S. Merretazon), whose true story was detailed in 'Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans' by Wallace Terry, this is an arresting drama. Sadly, the message and good intention about how the Vietnam War and American society affected the marine are lost amidst the poor script and an early narrative dead end. Violence and gore was gratuitous and character profanities made the dialogue drag. Some scenes seem derivative of Oliver Stone's Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. The third act's brevity and the climactic caper scene is welcome, but by the end, one may wonder what it all meant. The performances are muscular, but it is a straightforward chronicle of a man's plight.

A British-Polish drama; A story about Rudolf and Hedwig Höss, building an idyllic façade of home life at the outside edge of the effect of genocidal German government policy in which they are complicit. The film title refers to Interessengebiet, a term used by occupying Nazi forces for the restricted zone around Auschwitz concentration camp that was reserved for the Schutzstaffel (SS). Adapting Martin Amis's novel, the director used archival evidence and personal testimonies to accurately document the domesticity of the couple's life beyond the walls. Formalist elements such as staging and cinematography are used to show the stark contrast that existed between a bucolic setting, including garden parties and pool days, and what was happening nearby; it exercised the mind's eye about what remained unseen. A glimmer of hope was hinted at in some scenes featuring inverted colours, but otherwise the unassailable situation of the camp prisoners is left to the viewer's imagination and effective use of audio. By ignoring factual biographical information about Rudolf Höss and limiting the story to an unsettling sensory experience about dehumanisation, it needed a resolution soon after the short second act. A coda sequence, while not sentimental, was cathartic and absolved the filmmakers of flippancy. All in all, the visual tone is compelling, and the performances were played with conviction. The soundscape of diegetic echoes is first-rate.

A British supernatural horror; A story about an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena who takes a cynical heir and two specially selected women to a reportedly haunted mansion. This is a film of style over substance, which turns on strange sounds and events for the make believe that a house is 'alive'. The slow, wordy first act exposition gives way to the gothic splendour of the house as a central character, made attractive by sumptuous staging and props, and clever photography, visual effects and camerawork. The extrusion of all this make some genuine chilling moments. It bolts on a long action sequence that has some suspense for the plot but prolongs the overall mystery. Overall, it satisfies as an atmospheric film with memorable scenes, but it throws up a confusing array of questions while failing to provide answers.