Quantum of Solace (2008) dir. Marc Forster
Starring: Daniel Craig, Matheiu Amalric and Olga Kurylenko

**

Guest review by Blair Stewart

Mild Spoiler Alert:

Blazing forward where "Casino Royale" left off, Daniel Craig's second James Bond vehicle "Quantum of Solace" is all-action and no script. We open on 007 speeding along the lakes of Italy with the mysterious Mr. White in the trunk of the car and henchmen on the chase. After the exhaustive opening we crash headlong into boat skirmishes and rooftop shootouts bringing to mind the breakneck pacing of the successful "Bourne" sequels, which has influenced and been influenced by our English spy. There's no foreplay here, its just straight to business for the new Bond.

Throughout "QofS" our hero dispenses with basic dialogue to seek revenge for the death of his double-crossed love Vesper from "Casino Royale" while the invaluable Judi Dench as MI5 boss M sweeps up his messes and keeps the film grounded amidst the pyrotechnics. Bond will follow a trail to the all-powerful Quantum organization and its dummy environmental corporation Greene Planet led by the nefarious Dominic Greene (Matheiu Amalric), who's stealing Bolivian water. While water is certainly relevant, its not as romantic a McGuffin as Fort Knox's gold.

Matheiu Amalric follows in a line of recent Hollywood antagonists like "Live Free or Die Hard's" Timothy Oliphant or Aaron Eckhart from "The Dark Knight" Two-Face who are completely overmatched against their heroic foil. James Bond is a brilliant, skilled international super spy with a relaxed attitude towards murder and Dominic Green is a corrupt industrialist who, based upon his muscle, should seriously consider renting the services of Oddjob or Jaws.

It's admirable that the lead villain is a nod towards the real life baddies in this franchise's recent pursuit of realism but it doesn't make for strong dramatic tension when 007 is matched against the likes of Jeffrey Skilling.

Helping Bond is Olga Kurylenko as Camille Montes, the sexiest Bond girl in the series, and as a half-Russian agent for the Bolivian secret service who doesn't utter a word of Spanish during the film, one of the most inexplicable overwritten characters.

Making too brief an appearance is the great Jeffrey Wright from "Casino Royale" as Felix Leiter, the CIA insider who is an accomplice of James. As Judi Dench shows in this film, if you have Jeffrey Wright, use him as much as you can.

In the iconic role of Agent 007, Daniel Craig is still a relief from the aging ham of Pierce Bronsan, but his Bond is almost unpleasant to spend time with, an automaton of cool, capable destruction without the two vital qualities of previous Bond performances, debonair wit and chemistry with his Bond girls.

In the director's chair Marc Forster is capable in his action and cross-cutting storylines, but his flair can't hide a plot stretched thin and flung around the globe like a hot-potato.

My suggestion for the follow-up; slow it down, pump up the bad guy, leave the Bolivian water to the "other" cinema spies
and make a call to Chan-Wook Park, the Korean wunderkind is born to make a great Bond film.

Quantum of Solace

Monster’s Ball (2002) dir. Marc Forster
Starring: Halle Barry, Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Boyle, Heath Ledger

***1/2

Just where did “Monster’s Ball” come from? Two unknown writers with an unknown German-American director, assembled a top notch cast and delivered one of the most powerful dramas of the decade. YES, I said decade! Having rewatched the film lately and considering the saddening death of Heath Ledger, the film resonates even more today than it did in 2002.

The film has an unusual structure. At first we meet Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son Sonny (Heath Ledger) who work together as death row prison guards. Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry) is married to Lawrence (Sean Combs), who’s next up for the electric chair. Though Leticia and Hank never meet in the prison, their lives will soon become entwined in a carnal affair of fueled by powerful emotions. Hank and Sonny live at home with Hank’s father Buck, a frail old racist pig who continues a lifetime of emotional abuse from the couch in front of his TV

The common bond between all these characters is abuse. Physical abuse is implied but it’s the mental abuse handed down from generation to generation that has beaten these characters down. Two tragic events occur which break down Hank and Leticia, but it’s coincidence that brings them together. Or perhaps it’s fate. With nothing left to live for, these two fragile help each other up and give them both an optimistic future.

“Monster’s Ball” is economical – Marc Forster strips his filmmaking down to raw emotion and let’s his fine actors convince us of its reality. Forster manages to make even the most insignificant character memorable. Mos Def who plays Hank’s gentle neighbour made his three short scenes a great boost for acting career and Sean Combs, disappears from his Puff Daddy alter ego and into the skin of the death row-bound Lawrence.

Going back to Heath Ledger, whose role is small but utterly compelling and which propels the movie forward. It’s a great accompany piece to “Brokeback Mountain” and a triumph introspective acting. Halle Berry is a marvel in the film and her Academy Award is richly deserved but arguably the most powerful moment in the film is the confrontation between Hank and Sonny in the living room. If you haven’t seen the film, it’s a shocking and jarring scene.

I still don’t know how Marc Forster commandeered this emotional script, attracted such talented actors and convinced his actors to expose such raw nakedness – both physical and emotional. It’s a special intangible gift of a master director. What’s next for Forster? Yep James Bond. Enjoy.

The Kite Runner (2007) dir. Marc Forster
Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub, Homayoun Ershadi, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada

**1/2

I’ve never read the book, but according to the trailer, the film is based on “one of the most beloved stories of our time”. Talk about setting yourself up for failure. No film could ever live up to those expectations. The film succeeds in telling a compelling story of a young Afghani man’s lifelong search for redemption, but fails to give us the epic grandeur of cross-culture politics which the trailer and book promises.

Amir and Hassan are rambunctious 8 year olds living in Afghanistan in 1978, before the Soviet invasion. They are best friends whose main passion is for flying kites in a highly competitive village tournament. What separates Amir and Hassan is class. Hassan is a poor son of a servant, and Amir lives a life of upper class privalege. Despite this the two boys live and play like equals – though Amir envies Hassan’s unwavering pride and honour. When the local bullies start picking on the two boys, it’s Hassan who stands up and fights them off. Just before the invasion, a rift develops between the boys that cause Hassan and his father to leave the village. During the invasion Amir and his father flee to America to start a new life. And Hassan disappears from Amir’s life.

The film moves forward 20 years when Amir has graduated college in San Francisco and is about to begin his working life. Amir is a writer who has written a novel based on his childhood experiences in Afghanistan. He lives a comfortable life in America, but when he receives a phone call about important news of Hassan, he’s compelled to travel back to his homeland to reconcile his past.

The film is structured in two halves – Amir as a child and Amir as an adult. Youngsters Zekiria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada as Amir and Hassan hold the film together as they make make up half the screen time of the film. Much of the dialogue is overwritten and overly literary - Hassan, who is a poor servant’s child, speaks in metaphoric hyperbole. I can’t believe I even used the words, ‘metaphoric hyperbole’ but Hassan, who apparently can’t read, would probably understand its meaning. The coming of age story serves to establish the characters motivations, desires and frailties, but in doing so Forster and writer David Benioff create a ‘preciousness’ to this story which can be off-putting.

Once we establish Amir as privileged and Hassan as poor, knowing that the Soviet invasion was near, the second half of the film became predictable. Within this predictability though, the story is anchored by the character of Amir, whom we care for deeply. If we thought Amir was a dishonourable shit as child, when we see him as an adult in America our attitude changes. Khalid Abdalla plays the elder Amir and his courtship of his soon to be wife, Soraya, gives us the ideal bridge between Amir’s childhood culture and his new American home. His honourable respect for his family and culture changes our opinion of him. It’s probably my favourite part of the film, when Amir goes through the procedures of asking his wife’s hand in marriage (though I’d never want to have my father broker the deal as Baba does).

Unfortunately Amir’s redemption is troublesome. Knowing the effect of his cowardice as a child, we know what the third act will entail. There are some missed opportunities for greater drama and riskier decisions for Amir. When he gets the call about Hassan in Afghanistan, he makes a split second decision to leave, and his wife supports him 100%. This is too easy for Amir. He must have been accustomed to the American lifestyle therefore making a decision to infiltrate the dangerous world of the Taliban requires more courage than he’s ever had to face – something Amir hasn’t yet earned. Somewhere between being a child and being an adult he found the courage to stand up for himself and his friend. The problem is we never see this epiphany.

This brings me to the notion of an ‘epic’ film. I would rarely say this but, the film actually needed to be longer so we can see Amir’s transition in life from coward to hero. As well, Amir’s wife too easily accepts his need to go back. There’s room for conflict in this decision. Unfortunately there’s none.

The film isn’t called “The Kite Runner” for nothing. Forster crafts some remarkable “kiting” scenes involving one-on-one kite battles between kids. He shoots them with the aid of computer effects, but the thrilling chase sequences in the air are reminiscent of those Harry Potter Quiddich sequences.

So for all fans of the novel you will likely be disappointed. If it was hit and miss for me, it will likely be all misses for you. Saying all that, it was a decent night out at the movies, redeemed with a great scene near the end at the dinner table when Amir asserts his new found pride. This will certainly produce great satisfaction. Enjoy.